


Demons Have the Most Fun: A Cautionary Tale

by Hopeless_Blue_Kiss



Series: A Cautionary Tale [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bottom Uchiha Sasuke, Demons, M/M, NaruSasu - Freeform, Seme Iruka, Seme Uzumaki Naruto, Seme!Naruto, Top Uzumaki Naruto, Uke Hatake Kakashi, Uke Uchiha Sasuke, Uke!Sasuke, Yaoi, seme kyuubi, seme!kyuubi, uke minato
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 11:41:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 46,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7359838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeless_Blue_Kiss/pseuds/Hopeless_Blue_Kiss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sasuke should have known what he was getting into when he tried summoning his own Guardian Angel. They're really demons, you know. Thank God, Naruto will be there to show him the ropes... or eat him. Whatever comes first. Yaoi. NaruSasu</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Never Do a Prologue with a Demon

Hello Hopeless Blue Kiss here with a new story for you. This is actually a gift fic I did for IvvyMoon a while ago that I posted on one site and due to it's great success I have decided to test if it gets a good response here. I do not own Naruto, I still hope Ivvy Moon enjoys it and if this story gets a good response I'll continue to post more chapters.

The quote below really seemed to resonate with the story and is from Rihanna's new song 'Russian Roulette'. Oh and fan art would be loved also! XP

Demons Have the Most Fun: A Cautionary Tale

'And you can see my heart beating/

You can see it through my chest/

And I'm terrified but I'm not leaving/

Know that I must pass this test/

So just pull the trigger…'

~Russian Roulette by Rihanna

Prologue: Never Do a Prologue with a Demon

It's strange how when you think you are about to die things become that much clearer. The loud thumping sound of your heart whooshing in your ears is never quite overshadowed by the whispered words of your killer. They are just that much more intimate and intimidating as your attacker draws that much closer to your retreating form.

The faint taste of warm, metallic blood is dually noted and categorized mere seconds after you've bitten your tongue. While the stinging caress of fangs sinking into you almost feels like a warm embrace. Even your soft gasp of surprise could be considered more like a lover's cry for more as you find yourself clutching onto his arms moments before your legs buckle under you.

Yes, right between the paralyzing fear and the inevitable coldness of death there is a moment's clarity through the kaleidoscope of emotions. That Sasuke should experience such intense feelings so young while pressed against the hard, hot form of a naked demon would have to be forgotten for now. Better it were to regress just a bit to just how the ten year old boy fell into this predicament in the first place.

A FEW MINUTES AGO

It seemed almost impossible to believe that there was a moment where Sasuke Uchiha hadn't anticipated receiving his very own 'GuardianAngel'. He had prepared for this moment almost since the day he could take his first wobbly footsteps. Every Uchiha he knew that was worth their salt had one. His Aniki had one and now, finally, was his turn at the tender age of ten.

Sasuke was not foolish like the other citizens of Konoha to believe that a GuardianAngel was some celestial entity with feathered wings and a halo that watched and protected him from heaven. That was just the garbage that the government sprouted to the general public whenever they saw the presence of their Guardians at their side. More like these so-called Angels were wolves in sheep's clothing; demons that would rather rip and tear apart their ward rather than protect them and honor their contract.

Demons, simply put, weren't born… they were made. Created from all the malice, fear, greed, lust and hunger in the world, these creatures desired to cause the same. When they could, they would find holes and cracks in the wall that protected and separated our world from theirs and would go out disguised as humans to create wars and famines.

What Sasuke wanted to be was the person that stopped these things from happening. A Demon Wielder and/or Summoner is an individual with enough spiritual energy to control one of these demons. They summon and form a contract with the mean-spirited creatures so that in exchange for them coming to the human world and living off their Summoner's spiritual energy, the demon wielder has a Guardian to protect, fight and serve them. With their Guardian at their side they were almost guaranteed a high paying position in society as the protectors of their world and that's what Sasuke desired.

He wanted to prove his worth to his family and the teachers that had gathered here today for his demon summoning. This was a graduation of sorts into a world and society where everything seemed possible and all doors seemed to be open. So when the raven-haired child had uttered the last words to the summoning ceremony that had plunged his world into complete, suffocating darkness, he felt his heart plummet to his shoes.

All those people that had gathered to witness the turning point in his life, his mother, his father, his instructors and his Aniki, would now witness the few seconds before his untimely demise; that is if somehow their sight could pierce through the oppressing black that surrounded him.

Slowly the Uchiha retreated backwards, blindly seeking the edge of the inky, black abyss with his small fingertips. He would rip the darkness to shreds if he could so that he may breathe that more easily but something held him back. Sasuke knew that if he ran away from whatever he had just summoned then there was no going back. You could only receive one demon in your lifetime and if he left the circle without binding that creature to him and his services then he risked losing any future that he had been nearly guaranteed.

'What did I do wrong? What did I do?' Sasuke paused in his retreat and closed his eyes to gather his bearings.

'I drew the summoning circle correctly… Spent hours practicing last night and took my time now,' the child thought trying in vain to fight past his blinding fear and panic. 'I even said my words slowly so as… so as not to mess them up. So what! Kami, what could I have done wrong?'

Fingers, that were now clammy and cold, sank into his hair in frustration, ready to yank at the coal black strands even as he trembled like a small, autumn leaf in the wind. His eyes began to itch and burn with unshed tears while he tried to calm his racing heart. Sasuke's foot even prepared itself to stomp down in frustration even as his malfunctioning brain tried to find a solution before it ultimately crashed and rebooted itself. So when he heard the sudden noise in the otherwise deafening silence he froze.

A chuckle, husky, dark, rich and sultry pierced through the oppressing atmosphere. It felt like the heart wrenching wail of children, the screams of terrified women before they died and the panic, tear-choked pleas for mercy all rolled up in one.

Icy fingers seem to slide playfully down his spine at that chuckle. The invisible digits caressed each protruding bump on the small Uchiha's spine so that the hair on his nape stood at attention.

'What the…'

"Little human… Why have you summoned me? I was having such a peaceful nap," chided a silky smooth voice somewhere within the darkness. This time the voice seemed to carry with it the undertones of a thousand yawns and the strange comfort of being wrapped in a soft, thick blanket on a cold, winter's night.

Sasuke tried to force himself to breathe; his lungs demanded and begged it of him. 'Wh… why did I summon him?' the raven tried to think, furrowing his brow thoughtfully.

For the briefest of moments he remembered his rival walking down the hallway of their school in the exclusive white uniform with blue trim of a Summoner. The Uchiha remembered how any snide remark he had for the brunette was swallowed quickly in grudging admiration and jealousy as the crowd of drab gray uniforms parted for Neji in his new uniform. He remembered how spellbound the masses were even after the Hyuga left; how he could say nothing as Neji gave a brief, dismissive glance towards him and his own gray school uniform consequently making him feel shamefaced and angered.

He wanted that. Thatuniform, the respect that came with it… everything. It wasn't as noble as wanting to protect the world from evil fiends. Sure he wanted to do that too… but he wanted thismore. He wanted to have a demon trailing behind him too like a protective shadow dressed in an all black uniform with red trim that would compliment his own pristine, white uniform.

But reality was determined to crash over him, revealing how childish, selfish and frightened Sasuke's heart truly was right now. It hammered so quickly in his small chest that he was afraid it'd bash itself into a million pulpy pieces before he could fully untangle his thoughts.

"I… I you are supposed to be my…. My…" The Uchiha stumbled out, slowly retreating backwards again even as he instinctively tried to make himself smaller by shrinking in on himself.

"Your what? Your slave? Your servant? Your faithful lapdog that trails happily behind you, ready to lick your boots, if it pleases you?" The alluring voice asked in obvious scorn and anger although somehow there was a hint of amusement mixed in there too.

Sasuke didn't know what to feel; didn't know what to say but could feel the blistering heat of the demon's words as if a lightless sun was pressed so close to his cheek that he felt faint from heat exhaustion. The textbooks at his Academy never seemed to have actually dealt with the demon's possible disdain and resistance to such bondage. They weren't human. They didn't feel the same things that humans felt so 'why should Demon Wielders seriously take them into consideration?'

Sasuke honestly felt that demons would be more than willing to make the pact if only to escape the desolate world they lived in. So why was his fiend being so difficult?

The child narrowed his eyes at the darkness, his chin stuck up defiantly in the air as he tried to channel his Aniki. Sasuke knew that Itachi wouldn't let some insolent imp, whoever he may be, try to browbeat him into giving up. Rather he would square up his shoulders like he was doing right now and demand the demon respect and acknowledge him as his true master. "You are what I want you to be," Sasuke said haughtily, voice trembling just slightly.

"You know those are brave words for such a little thing," the fiend replied with a soft chuckle. It seemed that the powerful entity approved of the little ones boldness before he slammed that theory to hell with words that felt like small daggers slicing at his small frame. "Icouldcrushyousoeasilyforthat!"

Sasuke whirled around so quickly that he nearly tripped over himself as he heard the words so close to him it felt as if the thing taunting him was whispering it directly into his ear. His small mouth contorted to let out a protest that was soon superseded by the gasp of awe at the creature that suddenly materialized from the darkness.

The nightmarish creature didn't look anything like Kisame or some of the other demons that he was privy to see in their true forms. (1) In fact the pompous demon standing in front of him looked incredibly angelic and godlike despite a few things that obviously screamed evil, bloodthirsty spirit determined-to-eat-your-soul. The powerful being was… how could the child possibly describe it in words that wouldn't somehow fall short?

The demon seemed untamed and sophisticated all at once. Temptation embodied standing their naked, sinewy and unabashed. He had a gorgeous mane of blonde hair with red lowlights that made his locks look as if they were softly blazing from within.

The strands that weren't pulled up into a high ponytail spilt down his back and over his brawny shoulders like wildfire nearly obscuring his yummy golden-brown flesh. Penetrating amber eyes, with a thin band of red around the outside of them, stared down at the small man child sizing him up while almost pouty lips curled up into a cruel smirk.

It was obvious that the fallen creature was humoring the boy by finally making an appearance in the chaotic abyss he had created. The bark of laughter that eventually fell from his sinful lips felt like the harsh smack of a tidal wave crashing down over the unsuspecting Uchiha.

Sasuke knew that that same laughter stemmed from the blush of embarrassment that colored his own cheeks. It irritated the raven haired boy more than a little bit that the gorgeous demon in front of him made him gawk and blush like a damn school girl in the first place. So before the innocent child could be further corrupted and/or humiliated by letting his eyes dip below the demon's navel the Uchiha shyly averted his gaze and cleared his throat.

"Why did you c… come if you didn't want me to have you," Sasuke asked bitterly. Or that would have been what he would have said if his tongue didn't feel like it was stuck to the roof of his mouth.

He could only stand there and watch the demon before him take him in just as he had done a few seconds ago. But it felt more like the demon was sizing him up, measuring his appeal and trying to determine whether he was worthy of being his master. So Sasuke instinctively lifted up his chin a bit higher and stood a little straighter for the demon; he vaguely noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the way the corners of the fiend's lips twitched upwards a bit in amusement.

Soon afterwards Sasuke could feel the mood lightening a bit and almost thought that he could relax. He even discovered to his own surprise and bemusement that he had held his breath while the demon appraised him. But just as he allowed his shoulders to settle down to their proper positions and right before he remembered his purpose in the summoning circle, the demon in question threw him for a loop.

"You are such a delicious looking child…"

The words rang in his ears deafeningly loud like church bells letting out a melodious booming sound. His blood was chilled instantly and he felt, to his dismay, that his feet seemed rooted to the ground. Sasuke slowly looked up at the beautifully cruel creature with wide, frighten gray as the demon started to converge on him like an angry storm cloud, licking his delectable lips.

"You wouldn't mind if I have just one bite, now would you?" the demon murmured even as he caressed a pale, baby smooth cheek.

You see, the demonic creature had held back his desires for as long as he could but the attractive child was oh so tempting. The way he blushed in embarrassment, the way his gray orbs darkened and smoldered when angered. Even the way he seemed to quiver on the spot even at the lightest of touches or no touches at all seemed to draw in the dark being.

He wanted to corrupt this child so badly that it was all he could think about or want since being summoned. So before the little one could let out a squeak of protest or try to escape he sank his fangs into the juncture of his neck and let out a sigh of contentment.

'Now this… this was heaven…'

Strong arms coiled confidently around the small, frozen form even as he bowed over the child nearly folding him in half in the process. He wanted to consume and savor everything about this child. Feel every frightened, jerky beat of his heart as he hummed his own satisfaction. Luxuriate and bask in the way the small human clung to him, despite his mounting fear, as if the demon was his everything and all.

Yes he was the alpha and the omega. And this child… this child was his… 'Would be his,' he amended.

He sipped gingerly at the salty, warm blood before he greedily sifted through the child's hopes and dreams. Attached as he was to the child the golden haired fiend was able to hack into the child's memories.

'Sasuke-kun…' the name floated to the surface like a fragile air bubble in mere seconds. It was carried on the same breath as an exaggerated sigh and in that instant the demon knew that that was the child's name.

'Sa-su-ke-kun,' he tasted the word on his tongue for a moment, savoring the sound of it. 'It fit the child somehow,' the evil spirit thought even as he continued to sift and walk through the memories.

"So now what is my new name little one?" murmured the demon against the small human's neck, "If you don't want me to kill you right now then you'll name me and quickly too."

WITH ITACHI, A FEW MINUTES EARLIER

They were all there. His father Fugaku, his mother Mikoto, himself and his demon Kisame had dressed appropriately for his little brother's summoning ceremony. Their petite mother had personally ironed and pressed the clothes that they were wearing now as if afraid that somehow one of the servants would somehow botch it up. As if any of the well selected staff would do such a thing, but admittedly they did lacked his mother's fine touches.

The woman in question was standing to the right side of him, clutching his arm and waving occasionally to her smallest child with her other hand. She beamed like a proud mother hen, her head resting just below Itachi's shoulder, as Sasuke took his first real steps into manhood. At that thought Mikoto would briefly glance downward at her purse that housed a camera. She was fairly disappointed that she couldn't take a picture of the ceremony before she'd perk up and mention something to her distracted husband then give Itachi's arm another friendly squeeze and pat.

He vaguely remembered his GuardianKisame (2), who stood to his left, compare his mother to a magpie the way she happily chattered as if having not a care in the world as she flitted to one thing or another. It made a ghost of a smile touch his lips briefly as he remembered his stoic companion sitting patiently with his mother in the kitchen as she chattered about her day. The fact that his mother seemed so small when compared to him and his own 5'8 inches was made even more painfully obvious when his imposing demon seemed to dwarf the human woman at a staggering 6'4.

But even despite their undeniable height differences and their orientations, they seemed to fit into that domestic scene. Kisame would wrap his long legs around the kitchen stool's legs, nodding his dark head appropriately to whatever Mikoto was saying before making an astute comment. Then after all things were said and done and the conversation lulled a bit he would briefly sip at a warm cup of Chai before asking a follow up question that would have the dark haired beauty going off on another tangent. It amused more than annoyed the demon how much the woman was willing to talk about anything and everything and Itachi especially seemed to appreciate the loving attention given.

He knew that his mother didn't need to putter around the kitchen baking and cooking homemade things or traverse her vast gardens with a pair of clipping shears when they had ample staff but it did his heart good to see it. It showed that despite the riches around her that she was still a person who liked to work with her hands and create a home worth coming to. The only person she was willing to help assist her was Kisame despite the numerous offers by the awaiting staff.

When the demon wasn't with his master Itachi and/or seeing to his needs the gentle giant could be seen trailing behind Itachi's mother like a second Guardian. (3) Many times he was spotted in the gardens with his small mother, taming back the foliage and bringing back armfuls of freshly cut flowers to replenish the crystal vases. Kisame even seemed to have no qualms about rolling up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt, exposing strong, sinewy caramel arms, in order to help in the kitchen.

Sometimes Itachi would watch from the doorway as his roguishly handsome demon kneaded the floury dough with long, capable fingers while his mother was off picking more ingredients from the garden. The tall, Mediterranean looking man would give the floury substance as much attention and patience as he would any task taken on by himself. His pitch black eyes narrowed in concentration before they'd dart upward; a noble brow rose in question by his master's presence. Then just as suddenly deep grooves in the side of his cheeks would appear with a knowing smirk as he'd dust large, floury hands off on his dress slacks.

With long, confident strides that belied his true strength, Kisame would easily close the distance between him and his master. Itachi could easily remember how those burning obsidian orbs would peer hungrily down at him, not missing anything. He'd then silently wrap capable arms around his narrow waist and draw his pale master towards him. Callous fingers teasingly tracing the full bottom of his lip before Kisame would—

'Everything was going perfectly.' Itachi forced himself to think, cheeks slightly flushed.

He didn't think it appropriate to let his thoughts travel to such an intimate moment in his private life when he could feel his jaw tightening in anger at what his father was doing now. Eyes narrowed in disapproval, the older Uchiha sibling watched his father excuse himself from the small gathering of people who had come to watch the demon summoning ceremony. It was business. Always business as Fugaku quickly followed the school servant who had brought him the message.

Not even the small warmth of his mother's small hand seeking his own could stop him from thinking his father, Fugaku, was a social climbing bastard who couldn't see the potential in his smallest son.

No, he'd rather hitch his wagon to Itachi's shooting star; assured that he and his demon Kisame would bring even more prestige to the Uchiha name then even Fugaku could himself. But this was his day… Sasuke's day and he was going to be there for his Otouto. So he squelched down his anger and gave his mother a small, wane smile before looking intently at his miniature image.

He watched with growing pride, that he was scarce to show Sasuke in person, as his little brother carefully drew the summoning circle in the middle of the expansive, stone room. It was formally a dungeon if the Uchiha could go by the rusted manacles still stapled on one side of the room. It was hidden deep underneath the school and attached to it was a rumor of how haunted the place was in order to keep away curious, non-summoning students.

Torches were dispersed at even intervals around the cold, slightly damp space. They blazed heartily but could not quite penetrate the darkness hidden in each corner of the room. Apparently the technology known as electricity and other appliances could not infiltrate this desolate area and its archaic atmosphere which left the torches as the only source of light to be seen. Yet despite the lack of harsh, fluorescent lighting, Itachi's eyes were able to run along the intricate swirls and lines that surrounded kanji letters that were long since forgotten by the vast majority of Konoha. Afterwards Itachi listened carefully and closely to the spell used for the summoning.

'He hasn't missed a step yet,' he thought with obvious approval as Sasuke took his time. It was better to err on the side of caution in such a delicate ceremony then to just jump so eagerly into it. Itachi had lost a friend to such eagerness as the demon that was summoned easily killed and devoured his friend for such a mistake in the ceremony before vanishing back to the demon world; since of course there was no longer a Summoner to tie him to the human world. (4)

So when Itachi drew himself away from such a gruesome memory to see what else his Otouto was doing, his hand suddenly clenched down hard onto his mother's. He felt cold and hollow all of a sudden. So much so that Itachi could barely feel it when his mother wrenched her hand free from his death grip only to put them up to her mouth in order to cover up a pained sob.

"Sasuke! Itachi what's happening to my… my baby?" Itachi's mother cried out in alarm. She took an involuntary step forward, almost prepared to walk through that inky darkness in order to retrieve her precious son before her eldest son grabbed her hand.

'He was too young. He was too young… How could I have let this… this happen?' she thought frantically, feeling more than a little faint.

Itachi even had to admit that he could almost feel the same kind of hysteria engulfing him. Fear stabbed viciously at his heart with a pitchfork as he saw how the summoning circle was soon swallowed up by an opaque, black dome.

It was unheard of and if he wasn't there to make sure that his little brother was safe then who would? He watched over Sasuke since the day he was born and even though he played it off like he didn't like the smaller Uchiha shadowing him, he was secretly pleased. So when this monstrosity, blocked his view of his beloved Otouto (5) all he wanted to do was rip down the ugly thing.

"Kisame," he began in a cold, precise voice; his face impassive for the most part. His dark orbs never left the dome as he heard the reassuring swish of a sword sliding from its sheath.

"Samehada is ready to bite into the darkness for you Itachi-sama," Kisame said evenly as he pulled out a curious looking sword. It was a huge prickly, looking thing that seemed to shudder in anticipation of devouring something… anything. But it was still not to be undone by its handsome master who stood obediently beside his Summoner.

The demon radiated an air of complete control and confidence, even in the most difficult of situations that seemed already a balm to Itachi's frayed nerves. "It's been a while since it has fed. Right Samehada?" The handsome demon cooed to his sword that nearly jerked him forward in its eagerness.

The corners of Itachi's lips nearly twitched upwards at the eagerness of Kisame's sword. Although the man at his side seemed almost just as reserved as he was, making for a perfect partnership, he was also just as eager as his sword was to slice into something even though he didn't look it.

Before anyone could protest his advances Kisame made a quick beeline towards the foreboding dome at the slight twitching of his master's ring and index finger. The dark haired demon leapt high before slicing downward onto the dome in a beautiful arch only to have the dark barrier reject his advances. Undeterred, he again rushed at it without further pause and slashed horizontally this time only to be met with the same unresponsiveness.

Kisame, after a few more quick slashes that left both he and his sword unsatisfied, scowled darkly at the unforgiving wall wondering why his Samehada couldn't bite through the dense material when it could easily cut through anything else.

'So what gives?'

BACK INSIDE THE DOME, AT THAT VERY MOMENT

"Naruto… please …" Sasuke gasped out desperately, shattering the memory the demon was currently wading through. His fingers convulsed as he tried to draw the demon closer to him even while he tried to push him away. He felt so cold and the blonde felt so warm pressed up against him that he was almost on fire. He was burning so gloriously against the demon that he didn't mind if he became a pile of ash later on.

His pupils were dilated to near pinpricks, cheeks flushed with both heat and desire while his pink lips parted to let out panting breathes. Sasuke needed this, hated this. He didn't want to die but if he had to why not in this beautiful killer's arms? The child could already feel his world starting to get a bit fuzzy around the corners; muting all colors as it went.

"Is that my new name little one?" (6)

The pleased voice purred so closely to Sasuke's ear that the child could feel another fine shiver ride down his spine. It felt warm, thick, rich and golden like dribbling butterscotch, the way the words seem to pour over the Uchiha. He felt so incredibly safe in his attacker's arms that if it was possible he'd have cuddled closer.

"Please Naruto…" Sasuke pleaded once more, this time capturing the demon's gaze with his own. His dove gray eyes seemed darker, more alluring somehow as he looked at the fiend with so much need and utter surrender. It was as if the child had already decided to yield his soul to the demon and throw his life away for this brief moment of euphoria.

"Please Naruto, what?" the blonde asked teasingly, secretly pleased. He knew that he had made the right decision in choosing this particular human. Sure he knew the child would fight the idea of his demon being the master instead of him when the euphoric feeling of their new bond wore off. But for right now the raven haired child was willing to give himself over to him and for that the adolescent should be rewarded.

"Do you want me to honestly stop?" Naruto questioned. His eyes, for a moment rested on the snowy white column of flesh that he had bitten into and before he knew it he was licking away the last traces of blood that was oozing out sluggishly.

Sealing the puncture marks he then watched with hooded, hungry ochre as the newly made demon mark blossomed like a dark flower into three swirling tomoes with a circle of intricate lines surrounding it. It was as beautiful and enthralling as the needy sound that Sasuke was making in the back of his throat to get his attention again.

"No… please more," the Uchiha insisted. Genuine fear flashed in his eyes for just a second at the thought of losing this feeling of floating.

It was freeing. No more worrying about proving himself or thinking about his future. He knew deep down somewhere that he should be alarmed and scared as hell that he was giving up his future so easily. Things were moving so fast that his head was spinning and he liked it. He liked this and he felt with eerie certainty that if he didn't give in now he never would when ugly reasoning finally smacked down over him.

"You're such a needy little human, aren't you?" Naruto cooed before lightly nipping the marking to Sasuke's growing frustration. He watched in amusement as the eager man-child coyly turned his head and arched his neck beautifully for the fiend to take a bite at his unmarred side.

"Please," Sasuke pressed desperately, eyes starting to shine with unshed tears.

"Such pretty tears you have. If I bite you even more, you'll die. You don't want that, now do you? No, you want to remain my plaything for a little while longer, right?" Naruto chortled as he brushed back a sticky lock of hair that clung determinedly to Sasuke's flushed cheek.

"You know you are just as delicious as you look Sasuke-kun. So rich and creamy and light on the tongue," he breathed out huskily. "It was a real pleasure tasting you."

He laughed once more at the small one's embarrassment but then became suddenly disappointed and angered at the way the child wanted to hide his hot face from him against his bare shoulder. The demon let out a warning growl in the back of his throat, wanting Sasuke to train his eyes on him again.

Naruto was so utterly enraptured by those tortured grey orbs that would fastened onto him so eagerly before skating away in embarrassment that he could stare into them for millenniums. They called to him somehow, reeling him in, just as the summoning had. Naruto wanted to just drown in those doe eyes fringed with lashes that any girl would envy.

So he nipped a bit harder on the demon marking, eliciting a mew of pleasure as the child arched against him before cuddling closer.

The demon hummed his approval, wanting to bask in what he did but he could already hear the stirrings of reality from outside the summoning circle. The opaque wall that had shielded the two from view would lift soon and the summoned creature would have to wait to enjoy his plaything again some other day. But even as he tried to unwind the boy's thin arms from around his neck he could hear the no longer insolent child murmur his protests which in turn elicited an amused chuckle from deep within his chest.

Sasuke began to feel like he could seriously enjoy his demon's chuckles and barks of laughter. They seemed to crash down over him or just simply float and submerge him in their warmth depending on the mood the blonde was in at the time.

'It's nice,' he admitted as he buried his face against the demon's throat. He could feel the powerful pulse of the fiend's heart against his nose, lulling him to sleep just as easily as he found himself luxuriated in the fact that strong capable arms were cradling and holding him like he was something precious.

'When was the last time I felt this safe? Was held like this?' he thought sleepily to himself, ready to close his eyes. That was until suddenly he felt a sharp pain against his backside when his tailbone made contact with the hard, unforgiving floor.

OUTSIDE OF THE DOME, JUST BARE SECONDS AGO

Kisame wasn't quite sure whether it was because of his Samehada relentlessly biting into the darkness that had caused the dome to finally shatter; or because whatever that was inside there had finished their heinous deed. But whatever the reason, the dome was gone now and Kisame as well as the invited teachers' demons had come to stand in a semicircle around the summoning circle with weapons at the ready. They all looked at each other with a knowing look, prepared to attack whatever was inside all at once before a small, familiar blur, whizzed by them.

Kisame's heart plummeted at the sight of the petite woman quickly dashing towards her son. He had been so focused and intent on pinpointing the demon inside so that he could attack it, that he had taken it for granted that the humans would instinctively draw back and wait against the wall. Not many of the Summoners felt it necessary to pursue taking up martial arts besides simple self-defense since their demons did a better job at disabling another demon and/or human then they could ever dream. So when he saw Mikoto Uchiha whizzing from behind him, tearstained face twisted up in agony as she reached for her son, all he could do was curse and force his body into action.

It happened so quickly that his Master Itachi barely had time to cry out for his mother before Kisame had reached her. His strong, capable arms wrapped around her slim waist, picking her up and inadvertently yanking her away from the grip she had somehow managed to gain on her own son. She flailed and kicked, scratching at the arm that barred her from her youngest born even as Kisame's other arm parried an attack from the now angered demon.

Kisame barely had time to shove Mikoto into his master's arms amid the screams for 'Sasuke' before he found the small Uchiha willingly going towards the demon. He cursed again, ignoring the bloody scratch marks on his arms as he prepared his Samehada for another attack. But even as he drew closer to the demon he had to duck quickly in order to avoid a teacher's demon careening towards him from a powerful swipe.

"Fuck! Double Fuck! And Fuck!" he hissed out in a steady hiss, wondering where the hell the tails came from. The shadowy things curled and flicked out menacingly around the golden haired demon like a dark nimbus. They seemed to strike out without much thought at any thing that threatened to draw near its master even as other shadowy appendages curled around the small Uchiha almost protectively, effectively wielding the child to the demon's side.

If that wasn't troubling enough Sasuke seemed completely oblivious to the chaos his demon was creating around him. He seemed to look up adoringly at the demon, not minding the fact that he was nude or that he could have killed his mother. More like he seemed to listen intently to what the demon was saying without using many words himself before sagging against his side in what appeared to be sleep.

BACK WITH NARUTO, JUST AFTER SASUKE FELL

The small Uchiha let out a small cry of pain and denial as he looked frantically up to the fiend for explanation. Hurt, beyond the physical pain that he felt, was clearly shining in his eyes as he silently begged the blonde for an explanation that didn't involve him being suddenly rejected.

Sasuke vaguely wondered if he had somehow come on too strongly as he slowly tried to scramble up to his feet. He felt so cold all of a sudden now that he was no longer pressed up against the hot, hard body. The Uchiha wondered shyly if Naruto would allow him to at least stand a little closer to him for warmth even though he himself was fully dressed; but suddenly he was being viciously tugged backwards by one arm.

A cry of surprise and a protest at the rough handling was quickly swallowed up by the fact that he could see light. It was blinding and gorgeous the way it pierced at his retinas, making him want to quickly close his eyelids until he was ready to adjust to the sudden lighting. But just as suddenly as he was pulled one way he felt himself pressed once more against that glorious form.

Teary eyed, he looked up into amber orbs that raked over him possessively, checking for damage on 'his property' before they glared down at the person that had tried to steal him away. Sound quickly filtered into his fuzzy head as he heard the cries of pain and screams of 'Sasuke' just floating on the surface of Naruto's rumbling growl.

Goosebumps littered his arms at that threatening sound just as quickly as it made his heart beat triple time. He wanted to be afraid of him… he should be afraid of him but his body betrayed him by melting against the demon's side. This was where he should be, and the reassuring heaviness of an arm wrapping protectively around his small waist reassured him that he was making the right decision.

'Closeyoureyeslittleone,' a soothing voice requested in his head.

Sasuke's head jerked up in stupefaction and wonder at that voice, only to see Naruto's eyes looking intently down at him. The small Uchiha quickly looked downward and pressed his face against the blonde's side. His face heated once more as a rumbling chuckle came forth making the Uchiha want to scowl a bit. Or smile… he couldn't really decide.

'Justcloseyoureyeslittleoneandthiswillallbeover.Ihavetotakecareofafew… pests.' Naruto conceded with a grimace, choosing his words delicately. All the while that he was trying to reassure his human, tails began to bubble and form behind him quickly in order to prevent the demons and humans from coming any closer.

They coiled from the powerful beings backside; first one, then two. They lengthened and thickened as they swished into existence; made from the same substance that had created their dark utopia inside the circle.

Another tail and then another shadowy companion formed and curled around the human child as if his arm wasn't sufficient enough to hold him to his side. The shadowy appendages were more than prepared to shield the small one from view in the darkness while their brothers waved menacingly overhead like a cobra rattling its tail before it strikes.

"But I can hear you in my head." Sasuke nearly whispered in awe as if afraid he'd doubt his own words once they hit the air.

'Everythingwillbefine,justsleep.' The words came out as a gentle suggestion but it held just a hint of a command.

"Sleep?" Sasuke questioned, slightly confused by how distracted his demon looked from here to something else outside their personal utopia. Just the smallest spark of jealousy blossomed in his heart at the fact that someone else could command Naruto's attention more than himself.

'Yes,' the words came out as an exasperated, yet still patient sigh. 'It'ssoyoudon'thavetohearallthebadnoisestheyareabouttomake,' the blonde insisted, allowing clawed fingers to rustle the child's hair affectionately.

"Who are they?" Sasuke murmured, suddenly feeling the powerful pull of sleep sucking him down into oblivion. The Uchiha honestly couldn't remember anything beyond Naruto. Nothing mattered at this point but him.

'Noone,justsleep,' murmured Naruto coaxingly, brushing his fingers lightly against the demon mark.

"Yes… sleep…" Sasuke agreed, letting out a pleasant little shiver at the feel of the caressing fingers against that now sensitive patch of skin. His lips curled up a bit in a contented smile even as he allowed his eyes to close once more, not hearing his mother screaming to get his attention. He was too busy wrapped in thoughts of Naruto and being pleasantly surprised by the voice in his head that he didn't notice the utter chaos unfolding around him.

'Everythingwillbeoversoon…' Naruto promised to the little one, all the while allowing a cruel smirk to carve its way across his lips as eyes so much like his Sasuke stared back at him in hatred and slight fear. 'AndI'mnotgivinghimuptoanybody.'

"It's been a while since I've enjoyed a good killing," Naruto nearly purred out before he went on the offense, claws and tails at the ready. A snarl was already rising from deep within his throat as he quickly moved to slash at the human that held that damnable woman who tried to take his Sa-su-ke-kun away.

Samehada was quick to parry that strike that was meant for his master and his mother, inserting himself in between the two before it was too late. He then began to make a series of slashing jabs at the tails before driving the fiend back with a powerful swipe meant to cute at his midriff. Kisame was unnerved by the fact that the golden haired demon didn't have any good openings available to pry the child from his side and he was more than a little puzzled at the demon's sudden attachment to the human. Usually newly summoned demons bared so much abhorrence towards their master for putting them into captivity, including himself at one point, that there was nothing but that feeling inside them for a while.

But the way the demon seemed to hold the almost lifeless body earlier, almost endearingly in fact and the way he seemed to frantically check the child for any damages caused by Mikoto spoke of something more akin to infatuation and possibly love. It was as if the two had somehow become completely codependent to one another in a matter of seconds, and no matter how he tried to bite at the demon's tails with his Samehada; they grew back just as quickly.

It was useless to fight the demon in his current form when Sasuke's new demon had the privilege and advantage to be in his true form. So when he looked back towards his Master for permission to take off his demon limiter, he was met by cold, determined grey before they settled back downward to attend to his mother.

"Kisame kill it. Kill it, restrain it, whatever! It doesn't matter. You can take off your demon limiter if you have to. Just get that thing away from Sasuke at all cost. I don't want to see a single hair out of place on my precious Otouto's head!" Itachi ground out while cradling the body of his sobbing mother who seemed to sag heavily against him after the surprise attack.

Kisame smiled a predator's smile at those orders, smoothly bowing amidst the chaos to his master. His perfect, white teeth gleamed in the semi darkness as he turned back to the golden hair menace and removed what appeared to be a simple, bone colored ring from his ring finger. It clinked soundlessly and harmlessly to the floor in a puddle of water that suddenly appeared by his bare feet; the simple band was already causing a colossal change in Kisame so that he was nearly humming with pint up demonic energy.

In his human form his skin had the healthy pallor of a Mediterranean male but in Kisame's true form his skin was the frosty, silvery blue of a fish's belly. Fish scales, glimmered in iridescent rainbows here and there along the taut, muscular form that had somehow accumulated beads of moisture as if he had just come from a dip in the water. His well kept, short cropped black hair was now brushing against his shoulders in wet, loose strands that hid small, little sea shells tied here and there. Teeth that were perfect, straight pearls were now razor sharp needle points as Kisame smiled his predator's smile once again. His slightly webbed fingers with pointy claws quickly, ripped away at his hindering shirt to allow more freedom of movement as he slung his growing and ever-hungry Samehada across his broad, bare shoulder.

It was definitely a rare sight to see when Kisame transformed into his true form. The prehistoric shark teeth necklace, gleaming and rattling around his neck with every heaving breath he took was completely overwhelmed by the cackling, dark sound of Naruto's laughter.

"So you grow a few scales and teeth and think you can take me on you glorified, little guppy. You have no idea what I am capable of. I'll rip your head off and drink from your skull before you take him from me. HE'S MINE DAMN IT!" He howled out causing the meager torch lights to snuff out around the room, leaving them in complete darkness.

'Yesyours.Alwaysyoursandnooneelse's,' Sasuke murmured in his sleepy consciousness, determined to calm down his demon. A small hand barely managed to untangle itself from Naruto's protective tails to rest against the demon's heart when the lights suddenly flickered back on by the yawn and wave of a newcomer yet to be seen.

"If you were all my students, which some of you once were, I would all give you a week's worth of detention," came a tired voice followed on the heels of another yawn.

All heads, including Kisame and Naruto's, seemed to swivel around as one to the intruder who decided to crash their little party. The brunette speaker walked slowly down the dungeon's stairs in slippered feet, clutching a box of Kleenex in one hand while wrapping his bathrobe more securely around his slim frame with the other. He paused in his descent to sneeze and quickly reach for a tissue to dab at his cherry red nose before continuing downward to finally join the group. His itchy, watery brown eyes quickly swept over the chaos in front of him, making a slight tsking noise in the back of his throat before erupting into a fit of coughing.

"Is that the headmaster of the school, Iruka?" Someone ventured to ask in a hush tone, into the yawning silence of the brunette's last words. "He's a bit young, isn't he?"

"I get ready to turn into… into bed early because I have an awful head cold and what do I find?" demanded the sick brunette as he waved a new Kleenex tissue in one hand after stuffing the old one in his pocket. He didn't even give anyone a chance to respond before he continued. "I'll tell you what I found. A school messenger telling me that there is a demon attack in the basement. You should all be ashamed of yourself, disturbing a sick man like me. Especially you Kyuubi," he sniffled before glaring at the dangerous yet still bemused blonde.

"Who the hell is Kyuubi?" Naruto snarled this out, still frozen in mid attack. He wasn't going to relax just because some mere human decided to come and join them in their merriment. He narrowed amber orbs suspiciously, fangs flashing warningly at the possible rival for his Uchiha before adding yet another tail to wrap around Sasuke.

"You are. You are the one who killed my brother Minato. But of course you wouldn't remember now that you have been named. (7) Just my luck, right?" the brunette said brightly before dissolving once more into a coughing fit. "Still doesn't mean I ca… can't interrogate you. So Kakashi, if you would please," Iruka motioned for his demon to step out from among the shadows.

"Yes my Lord," a silver haired fiend announced. He stepped out of the shadows, placing the last torch he lit back into its holster, all the while smiling a secretive smile against his black Neoprene Half Face Mask.

To Be Continued…

(1) – A demon has two forms. Their humanoid form that they let the general public see that protects their identity and their true form that is first seen when they are summoned as well as when they are allowed to take off their demon limiters. Demons with no master wear humanoid forms willingly in order to blend with the masses and cause more mischief.

(2) – This Kisame is loosely based on my version of Kisame in my story 'Promise'. He has the same look and appearance as Promise's Kisame as well as the same calm, patience that the anime/manga Kisame desperately lacks. However he does have the same bloodlust and sword as the anime/manga Kisame.

(3) – Mikoto Uchiha lost her Guardian a long time ago when the demon sacrificed its life in order to protect not only their mistress but her young boys as well on a summer vacation gone awry. A pack of demons had attacked the summer home they had been staying at and since Fugaku had to leave the vacation shortly after on business Mikoto's demon was the only one available to protect her, her children, and the house full of servants.

Kisame acts as a second Guardian to Mikoto by chaperoning her when she goes out in order to protect her from any demons who might want to eat her soul. It's because a Summoner or a potential Summoner's soul is more delectable than any other human souls. So consequently they are targeted a lot which makes finding potential Summoners dually important so that they can learn to protect themselves and to protect others as well.

(4) – A demon who is summoned can only be tied to the human world once they are named by their new master/mistress. Even then, if their master/mistress dies they are shortly sent back to the demon world since their contract that allows them there dissolves upon their master's/mistress's death.

(5) – Yes, Itachi has a brother's complex. It's cute that way but no incest. It's a Bromance if anything, not a Romance kiddies XP

(6) – Like I mentioned before, in order for a Summoner to complete a contract with their attended demon they must give the demon a new name.

(7) – Once a demon has been named their past life with any master before their new master is erased. The name serves as a 'restart' button in order to protect their old master's secrets but is a real bitch when someone like Naruto is accused of killing someone in their past life. It's hard to accuse a demon of killing someone when they don't even remember the deed that they did. You dig?

A/N: Please don't forget to review. I spent tortured nights trying to draw out the images from my head. I was so obsessed with this story that I basically put all the other stories on hold until I finished it. And now I have, so review if you really like this story. Tell me what you like, love, want to see more of. Don't let this just be a 'review please moment' demon Naruto won't like that. He might abandon Sasuke-kun if you do.

Okay, maybe not abandon him but he might still be very miffed at everyone. Once again this is for IvvyMoon and thanks again LadyLaran and Aya for putting up with my ramblings. I hope this story is semi original as well as hope that everyone out there enjoys it. And before you ask, this is not going to be a pedo story; it's just easier to manipulate Sasuke when he's smaller.


	2. Never Share a Past with a Demon

Hello Hopeless_Blue_Kiss here wanting to thank every single person who found this story worthy. I would especially like to give a big thanks to the ones who let me know how much they liked this fic by reviewing. I do not own Naruto but I still like revamping characters like Kisame in my fanfics. I really hope this chapter is as good as the first one and look forward to what you guys think of it. So don't be shy and let me know because I love, love, love reading the reviews. Well, anyway, enjoy, rate, review or whatever. Also this song excerpt is from Evanescence's song 'My Immortal' and it fits perfectly with how Iruka feels about Kyuubi/Naruto. Also special gift fic offer in closing author's note.

Demons Have the Most Fun: A Cautionary Tale

You used to captivate me by your resonating light  
Now, I'm bound by the life you left behind  
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams  
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase

~My Immortal by Evanescence

/Recap/

"Who the hell is Kyuubi?" Naruto snarled this out, still frozen in mid attack. He wasn't going to relax just because some mere human decided to come and join them in their merriment. He narrowed amber orbs suspiciously, fangs flashing warningly at the possible rival for his Uchiha before adding yet another tail to wrap around Sasuke.

"You are. You are the one who killed my brother Minato. But of course you wouldn't remember now that you have been named. Just my luck, right?" the brunette said brightly before dissolving once more into a coughing fit. "Still doesn't mean I ca… can't interrogate you. So Kakashi, if you would please," Iruka motioned for his demon to step out from among the shadows.

"Yes my Lord," a silver haired fiend announced. He stepped out of the shadows, placing the last torch he lit back into its holster, all the while smiling a secretive smile against his black Neoprene Half Face Mask.

Chapter One: Never Share a Past with a Demon

"Mah, it's been a while, hasn't it Kyuubi?" Kakashi said conversationally, ignoring the warning growl from the blonde as he sauntered towards the two frozen demons.

He hunched his shoulders a bit while he stuffed his hands inside the pockets of his worn out, black denim jeans. They hung a bit low on his hips revealing just a small, tantalizing glimpse of pale skin before it was swallowed up again by his skintight, black tank top with the silver Chinese dragon wrapped around his torso. A lazy smile sprawled across his clothed lips at Kisame and Naruto's wary looks forcing his only visible eye to nearly close in a happy crescent moon as the apples of his cheeks pushed upwards in his grin. It made the silver haired demon seem laidback and genuinely happy to see the violent blonde even as his sight was compromised further by such actions.

His other eye was firmly shut close, a deep scar running vertically across it and down part of his cheekbone, hinting to its uselessness which in turn further showed that he was unprepared to jump into a fight with the two already bloodthirsty demons. It almost felt like the older male was an innocent lamb walking unsuspectingly to his slaughter if it wasn't for this oppressive, almost heavy, crackling feeling in the air as the headmaster's demon drew closer.

Naruto instinctively shifted his body to look more towards Kakashi even as he kept Kisame in his peripheral view. He narrowed his beautiful ochre orbs at the approaching demon, not trusting him for a second as one shadowy tail smacked down in front of Kakashi to halt his approach. Once more he bared his fanged teeth in warning, clawed fingers visible and flexing, itching to rip into tender flesh while his knees bent oh so slightly, preparing himself to spring at either two of the idiots.

"I really did think that we were comrades Kyuubi; you, young master, Minato and I made a great team and you had to ruin it," Kakashi murmured with a slight pout in his voice. He let out a dramatic sigh of great disappointment and regret before kicking his bare foot at an invisible pebble. Even when he halted just a few inches from the smacked down tail, he seemed more fascinated then perturbed by the threatening appendage. He studied the shadow tail thoughtfully for a few heartbeats before looking up with a brow raised in amusement, obviously impressed.

"I even foolishly thought that we were more. Like actual friends more," he laughed bitterly before withdrawing his hands from his pockets to lift the tails of his ridiculously long red scarf to show it off. It looped around his neck twice in order for the tails to hit his calves and not the ground below. (1)

"Really off the topic but do you like this? My young master just made it for me today with love knitted into each little stitch while he was stuck in bed with the cold. But I think he might have gotten a bit too overzealous in the process," he sighed forlornly before suddenly drawing a sheathed, wicked long katana out of it.

"It does come in handy, however when you want to hide big things." He gave another crescent eye smiled that impaired his vision once again even as he pulled out the sword just a bit to allow his fingertips to worship the cold steel of the blade. "That and the ability to create small air pockets in space," he added before slamming the blade back home.

"Get the fuck out of our way Kakashi. You see that I already have him," hissed out Kisame as he narrowed his eyes at the silver haired demon and inched a bit closer to the blonde. He didn't appreciate it at all, the idea of the newcomer stepping into his fight and his sword Samehada agreed with him as it shivered and grumbled its protest.

"You 'were' fighting someone Kisame-kun but now I'm afraid I'll have to cut in. You see young master has requested I finish this up and you are sadly taking too long," Kakashi announced casually before shrugging as if it was no big deal. "No hard feelings, ne?" He let out a soft chuckle that he nearly choked on as Kisame quickly deviated from his earlier plan and rushed at him instead.

He was a big blue and black blur, needlepoint teeth gnashing together as he slashed his sword down on the insolent demon only to nearly tip over from the added weight on his sword. He looked up with slightly bewildered black eyes as Kakashi looked his covered up nose down on the shark demon. He had leapt up onto the tip of the Samehada just as it was about to cut him in two before he just as suddenly did a perfect somersaulted over Kisame's head.

For a moment surprised black orbs came into contact with one mischievous blue-gray eye as Kakashi looked at Kisame upside down before he had completed his move and slammed down onto the ground; legs bent to absorb most of the blow, his left palm spread out and resting against the ground to steady himself while his right hand clutched his sheathed sword close to his side.

He was now in front of Kyuubi and behind Kisame and before his rival could react he was on his feet and slamming his hilt backwards, smacking Kisame hard in the back of the head with a loud thudding sound that would at least have the shark demon seeing double for a while before sliding his blade back home in its sheath. Then with a crooked smile and a crack of his neck he sprang after Kyuubi with a great leap, ignoring the gasp of horror as Itachi rushed to check on the crumpling Kisame.

"Do you like my technique Kyuubi? I've been taking the art of swords up since you left so suddenly. I couldn't wait to try it on my favorite sparring partner," Kakashi said brightly, his voice light, his visible eye hard as flint stone. He now fully unsheathed his sword, tossing the finely carved sheath to the side so that he may quickly run his fingers against his blade once more. This time his fingertips glowed a crackling blue until his whole katana was encased with the crackling blue light of his lightening energy. Then before the blonde demon could overanalyze his weapon of choice he began a series of slashing attacks that seemed like flashes of crackling blue crescents in the air.

"It's because I've been imagining what you would look like when I finally carve you up and run you through with my blade Chidori that I've improved so much over the last ten years," he laughed, his sword crackling and chirping like a thousand birds. (2) "Don't worry… I won't cut you up too badly. We still have to talk to you afterwards," he consoled, unperturbed when his slashes didn't connect at first.

Naruto danced backwards, never even stumbling a bit at the slashing movements that came at him at all angles. It might have seemed like a light show to others on the sidelines but he could see the quick stabs and slashes as if it was slowed down tick by tick. His tails crashed down on the cocky scarecrow, parrying and trying to wrap around the nuisances body to smash him down against the hard ground or wall. But just as he had evaded the attack, so did Kakashi.

"Why should you care about a human now, Kyuubi? Why now?" Kakashi bit out, nearly seething between soft pants. "You didn't when you killed Minato. You didn't when my young master was crying for his dead brother. So what's with this sudden change? You couldn't have grown a heart so quickly when they locked you in that dark cave," he spat out as he increased his attack so that even though his sword didn't cut the blonde, the aura crackling around the sword left a small cut along the fiend's cheek. (3)

The blonde blinked at him surprised, a question forming on his lips at how the challenger knew that the only memory he remembered was being locked in the dark, cold recesses of a cave. There was only a small beam of light offered as chains weighted him down, preventing him from moving. The sparse foliage around him quickly died as he drained them of their spiritual energy as hunger set in before draining any creature that was foolish to come close. Even the little sparrow that twittered so happily when thinking he spotted a friend soon died to his all consuming hunger that left him lonely and wanting more. (4)

He had floated in and out of consciousness, fighting to stay alive on pure determination and spite before he was summoned and that was where he met his master… his savior. His beautiful, delicious owner had relieved him of that cramp space and submitted to him so readily that he nearly smiled at the memory even while his limbs hummed with renewed spiritual energy. He had only taken enough to stave back the hunger but had wanted more, so much more that the child was unable to give him at the moment.

So when the silver haired male managed to dredge up such a dark memory he quickly stopped and went on the offensive. Claw fingers crackling eagerly as they ripped at the air, slashing at where Kakashi's arm had stood a moment ago before his tail moved to trip him up.

"Yes, I know about that dark place they put demons in when they break their contracts with their humans. No sunlight, no life beyond that small beam of light. Did you enjoy your 'me' time?" he crowed flipping over the tail only to hear an answering snarl returned as anger clouded those honey gold eyes.

'Yes, yes get angry at me. Angry and reckless until I have you where I want you,' Kakashi thought to himself, narrowing his eye. Even through his own simmering anger he noticed that, despite Kyuubi going on the defensive before switching to the offensive, the fiend kept his small master well protected around his tails. He shifted his body to the side so that Sasuke would be farther away from Kakashi as he attacked predominately with his right hand, his left occasionally stroking black locks in unconscious comforting to his jarring movements.

Any move that was meant to cleave the child from the demon's side was met with a ball of orange-red light glowing in the back of Kyuubi's throat as he stretched his maw wide. (5) Kakashi knew from past experience that the beginning of this attack led to something so devastating and destructive that if he didn't dodge it in time there would be nothing of him left for his Iruka to grieve over. The headmaster's demon did however back off each time that that happened knowing it for Kyuubi's trump card and citing that the demon was only willing to use that attack to save the child instead of himself, which spoke volumes to Sasuke's value.

The one eyed demon took this to his advantage, seeing that the demon was so handicapped with the child. He still watched the shadowy tails that wreathed in menacing 'S' curls above the blonde's head like the snakes of Medusa ready to strike down and drain him of his life force before he sliced at the dark matter. (6) Each time it would slowly regenerate back but in the time it took for it to fully form he slashed at his shadowy brothers in order to slash at Kyuubi once again. Nothing serious really, just nicks and cuts here and there that started to bleed before healing over in a new patch of skin with a soft hissing sound.

His actions may not seem like much but he was slowly wearing away at the demon's already limited reserves. He knew that Kyuubi could only feed so much off of Sasuke's life force before he drained him dry and the fact that he used a lot of his flagging energy to create the black dome to do something in there that might have required him to use more spiritual energy made him believe that it wouldn't take long before he could use his special attack. (7) Mind you, if Kyuubi had been well fed, for which Kakashi was glad he hadn't been because then Kakashi would be singing a different tune. But since that wasn't the case and he himself was humming with spiritual energy from an earlier meal he was able to confidently extract a simple looking dog whistle from his scarf to which Kyuubi looked at more than a little suspicious.

"Kakashi!" The demon could hear his master's admonishing tone amid another fit of coughing that had his lips twitching upward in a small, sympathetic smile. He knew now that playtime was over as he blew on the specially made dog whistle that had the lights lit on the torches sputtering before nearly dying out as a sound of eerie howling began to fill the dungeon's four stone walls.

"They missed you too Kyuubi-sempai and I made sure they would prepare you a special greeting if they saw you again." The silver haired demon murmured in an eerily bright tone as one after another, dogs of all shapes and degrees of ferocity winked into existence from glowing balls of light. Before Kyuubi could even try to kick away at one of Kakashi's precious canines, the hell dogs latched onto their prey. Four of them snapped their jaws down onto his legs while one huge bull mastiff sank his massive fangs into Kyuubi's shoulder. (8)

Kakashi beamed down at his furry friends as they held on even as the blonde tried shaking them off but he could have easily told him that that was useless. They would stay latched on until Kakashi either called them off or they died from a serious blow to the head or chest; and since Kyuubi was in no capacity to fight them off when he was trying to simultaneously heal the many cuts that littered his sweating, golden flesh while also protecting his charge, the headmaster's demon found that now was the best time to use his last attack.

"Okay, young master says play time is over soooo…." Kakashi skidded backwards just in case the blonde decided to use his trump card. Then he slammed his hand down against the brick and mortar wall, secretly pleased at his handiwork. The rusty manacles that lay usually against the wall moments ago suddenly crackled into life, glowing with the electrical current pulsing through them. They swayed like sightless iron snakes entranced by their master energy before suddenly snapping down onto the blonde captive.

Kakashi made sure that the iron fetters had enclosed the prisoner's appendages fully before delaying further so that he could watch the metal snakes greedily begin to suck at his spiritual energy until one after another tail sputtered out of existence. It wasn't until the last shadow tail had winked out of existence that he called his dogs off so they too vanished one by one before he calmly moved towards the Uchiha child who slept obliviously curled up on the floor.

Kakashi snorted silently as he sheathed his sword and slipped it back into his red scarf before gently moving to scoop up the dark haired boy. The one eyed man had to admit to himself that the child curled up so peacefully in his arms with a soft smile on his lips seemed completely unperturbed by the fact that he had been part of an epic battle. 'A battle in which sleeping beauty here had garnered the attention of a fire breathing demon,' he mused thoughtfully as he eyed the blonde cautiously. Then just as suddenly as he stepped a few paces away from his worthy adversary he was besieged by Mikoto Uchiha who quickly snatched up her child before mumbling incoherent words of gratitude and admonishment in the same breath.

She nearly toppled over from the weight of her ten year old child but she refused to give him up to her eldest as she slowly rocked him. Mikoto kissed his dark head and murmured to the unconscious child how worried she had been before she began to laugh and cry at the same time. She didn't know whether to let the terror that she felt throughout the whole thing take her over or should thank her lucky stars that Kakashi succeeded where Kisame failed.

Mikoto did however smack the bemused Kakashi on his arm for hurting her son Itachi's demon before giving that same spot an affectionate squeeze before rubbing and patting Sasuke's back. She couldn't believe that her youngest had slept through all of that and he seemed so peaceful too. So she didn't quite have the heart to wake him even as she hefted him higher in her arms so that he wouldn't fall to the floor.

Naruto ground his teeth together, jaw muscles jumping when he refused to cry out in pain even as his arms were stretched out tautly so that there was virtually no give to even bend his elbows. His neck was encircled within a heavy metal collar that was bolted down to the ground underneath him so that he had to bend slightly or risk having the metal bite viciously into his tender neck. Even his bare ankles were shackled but had enough give that he could shuffle around just a bit to keep his legs from falling completely asleep. Yet despite all that he didn't stop struggling.

His lips, which had smirked down at his human mere moments ago, were now split open. His beautiful golden eyes with the slim ring of red around the outside were now blood red as he strained against his restraints. Not even the disappearance of his shadow tails, as his spiritual energy was slowly sucked out by the chains, could stop the blonde demon from straining towards his Sasuke. He wanted to nip at that mark one last time, wanted to breathe in that interesting combination of rain, vanilla and oranges that was his owner's scent.

His breath came in loud pants, his naked, bleeding chest heaving and glistening with sweat and blood as he paused momentarily before he fought against his bonds once more. The need to be close to the child was unbearable. He knew in his head that this desperate need to be closer to the small Uchiha to protect him, to encompass him came from the bite mark that he had given the boy. But it didn't stop his heart from aching less as if someone was squeezing the pulsing organ so tightly that his breath soon hitched and faltered.

It was like he couldn't get enough air to his lungs. It was like everything had lost color as soon as his soul was ripped from his side and no matter how cliché it sounded it didn't make it any less true. He existed for this boy, came to this god awful world for him. He had been saved from the darkness because of him and up until now hadn't known this kind of gnawing loneliness. Then again he hadn't remembered anything until Sasuke.

All Naruto could do as he saw the happy reunion was glower and struggle against his bonds. He never gave anyone permission to touch his human and as soon as he could figure away out of the iron fetters he was sure to teach them a lesson that they would never forget ifthey survived. Blood tickled down his left arm as he cut himself over and over against the manacles but he ignored the pain just as he ignored the brunette who was slowly approaching him.

Iruka's eyes had never left Kyuubi since the very first moment he laid eyes on him today. They never left when his own demon Kakashi took on his brother's former demon and they didn't leave now as he watched the blonde menace struggle against his bonds. He flinched slightly, almost afraid that the way the demon rocked and shook violently at his bonds that he would eventually ripped them out of their sockets and then paint the dungeon red with their blood. He could just picture with barely any trouble, the insatiable demon sinking his clawed digits knuckles deep into their tender flesh before ripping them to shreds, splattering blood everywhere as he went. But the manacles held and it was all thanks to his demon.

So just as Iruka had gathered up enough courage to face his own set of 'demons' and confidently make his way towards Naruto, the memory hit him like a sledge hammer. It drove its way into his solar plexus so hard that he stumbled and doubled over, his vision doubling. He let out a wheezing cough; eyes tearing up even as he blindly reached backwards for the demon who he knew would already be there. Fire and scarlet red eyes stared at him. His screams for Minato made his throat hoarse as he tried to claw his way closer.

"I… It hurts." Iruka gasped out before falling into a fit of coughing that had Kakashi quickly scooping up the smaller man before his legs gave way. Iruka curled up against his demon, resting his fevered cheek against Kakashi's collar bone, his head neatly tucked under his chin. He pressed the Kleenex against his mouth, his hand shaking violently even as he continued to look at the blonde demon. He still couldn't look away, even though now he didn't see the same demon that was restrained in front of him. No, instead he saw the Kyuubi of the past crouched on the floor and no matter how he tried to shake the image out of his head and just close his eyes it was already playing behind his eyelids, sucking him in to that memory.

"Kyuubi have you seen Minato? He promised me that he'd take me to…" Iruka trailed off in puzzlement as the demon came fully into view inside Minato's study.

The brunette had been searching for his brother everywhere in the big mansion that they resided in. The eleven year old had hoped that his Aniki would still spend some time with him on his rare day off. He also had hoped that the council hadn't somehow tricked him into coming into work today. It wouldn't be fair when Iruka had just barely managed to wheedle Minato into taking him to see a baseball game with his favorite team playing. So it was odd for the boy to see the proud, blonde demon that was practically glued to his Aniki's side, alone and crouched like that on the floor.

A soft smile spread across his lips as a sudden thought came to him as he stepped a bit further into Minato's study. 'Maybe Kyuubi has found another kitten and didn't want Minato to see it because he might want him to get rid of it?' he thought to himself. He knew very well and had witnessed on many special occasions when the withdrawn Kyuubi's golden eyes would light up at the sight of a poor, defenseless kitten. It was really a mystifying sight to see, if he could sneak up on him quietly enough.

It was like the world melted away for the demon as Kyuubi played with the kitten's little pink pads. His golden eyes would light with such fondness and delight, a whimsical smile just barely touching his sinful lips as he pressed his fingers down on the soft pads to see the claws pop out before letting them retract back again. Then he'd repeat the same motion over and over again with a shiver of delight before rubbing the adorable fur ball under its little chin for its trouble and offering it a shallow bowl of milk as an apology of sorts.

It was a rare delight to see that the blonde demon had a soft spot for things warm and furry. More like an absurd obsession that was only stifled by Minato's unavoidable allergies to anything feline. So when Iruka spotted Kyuubi crouched on the ground like that, his back facing him as if to shield something precious, he automatically assumed he was playing with a stray kitten with a bit of string or something. The brunette was even inclined to step further into the room and take a look at such a sweet, serene scene to see a peek of what Minato saw in Kyuubi that he didn't show to anyone else, when he felt a fine shiver ride down his spine.

It was like he suddenly plunged down into a lake of ice water or could feel someone walking across his grave as soon as he finally passed the threshold of the study's door. His heart quickened for no apparent reason and some deeply rooted part of him, felt the sudden need to run as fast as his legs would carry him. An unsure smile spread across his lips in his puzzlement, brow scrunched in confusion as he fought pass the sudden and unreasonable fear that flooded his system and echoed in his head like alarm bells ringing.

Sure Kyuubi was an imposing, frighteningly attractive being for sure with his strength and his views on humans 'enslaving demons' but there was no reason to fear him. He was a better bodyguard than any human that Minato had under his employ which was very important considering he was the President of Konoha or as the actual government addressed him as the Kage no Ô, Shadow King.

Iruka was one of the few privy to know that behind the democratic government that the citizens of Konoha saw, was the true shadow government. It was a necessary deception in order to hide and protect the fact that demons existed. That not only did they exist but people like their precious president, their precious Saiban, used them in order to do their bidding. Minato had to reluctantly admit that it was more ideal to keep his people in ignorance of the fact in order to protect them from the harsh truth. That there were creatures that go 'bump' in the night hidden among them, ready to drain them of spiritual energy and/or the reason why some people advanced so much more easily than others were because they were Summoners wasn't an easy pill for anyone to swallow.

Minato cared so much for his people that he wanted to protect them from that. He wanted to encourage the ordinary citizens to advance in life even though there was barely a snow ball's chance in hell that most would have such an illustrious, profitable career as those who could summon a 'Guardian Angel'. But despite all that, despite all that his Aniki had given back to the citizens of Konoha, trying to make it a better and prosperous place to live in, despite such injustices he righted he still received many death threats every day. And if it wasn't for the fact that he knew Kyuubi wouldn't allow any harm to befall his Aniki, Iruka would have been afraid to let his brother leave the house. He was grateful to Kyuubi for protecting his most precious person and the fact that his Aniki didn't fear to be alone with the blonde haired fiend made Iruka reluctant to fear him too.

Sure, Iruka secretly had to admit to himself that it was comforting to have his own demon at his side when having to address the tall blonde but Iruka had sent Kakashi out beforehand to search for his Aniki too, leaving him alone so that they could cover more ground. It was just one of many more things that he sometimes hated about Minato being the President. Sure the blonde man was there for him; but when your brother is the leader of an entire nation full of humans and demons, small requests like coming to Parent/Teacher night or to a Winter Concert where you play a tree or the wind seems unsubstantial when compared to the small fires his Aniki had to put out daily.

So when he did make what he believed a selfish request as to spend time with his brother at a baseball game, he had expected his brother to be eagerly awaiting him. Disappointment flashed in his eyes briefly at the thought of Kyuubi having a quickly scribbled note of apologies from his brother waiting for him. But even as he tried to put on a brave face and draw near the demon, slightly hesitant to interrupt him in his alone time he could feel his wavering smile sputtering out as red eyes fastened on him.

They weren't the rich ochre colored orbs with the thin band of red around the rim that added and enhanced to Kyuubi's wild, untamed looks. The yummy gold was swallowed up by crimson red with the same slit pupils like his beloved cats. His eyes bled scarlet as if it weren't done taking over. The brimming, bloody droplets ran down his cheeks like tears, tickling down his strong jaw and chin before disappearing into his charcoal grey dress shirt. A growl rumbled deep within his throat, animalistic and raw in its warning as Kyuubi continued to look at the human boy suspiciously over his shoulder.

"Wh... what do you have there Kyuubi? I… Is it a kitten? You know h… how Minato f… feels about those," Iruka stumbled out stupidly. His trembling fingers pressed to his lips too late to stop his words but they were out there and demanding a response. He felt so much like the unwitting teen of a horror flick that was so clueless to his own danger that he wished more than anything that his brother was there to chuckle at his foolishness, pat his head in reassurance before dragging him in a half hug so that he could inconspicuously turn to something else.

But he wasn't there… he wasn't there and Iruka suddenly wanted to know why. He wanted to know why and he wanted to know why in the hell Kyuubi looked feral and ready to attack him if he stepped any closer. So like an idiot who thought he was being brave he took a step forward again, demanding where his brother was even as he began to hyperventilate.

It was only the fact that Kakashi had started to turn back to find his master just before Iruka's fear had spiked that the silver haired demon was able to pull the brunette out of harm's way. A shadowy tail, wreathed and slivered back to its owner, vacating a small crater where Iruka had stood mere seconds ago. Iruka could hear his demon cursing softly above him as he wondered in bewilderment what just happen when he thought suddenly that this must be what a heart attack felt like.

Sure he was a young eleven year old but his chest was exploding with such pain and fire that he really did feel like he was going to die. His veins ran cold; he almost forgot completely how to breathe as he stared stupidly at the bloody form of his Aniki cradled in Kyuubi's arms. There was no ignorant hope that he was alive and brimming with mischievous mirth at the prank he was ready to pull off when Minato lay like some overlarge rag doll in his Guardian's arms.

Beautiful blue irises the color of a Caribbean sea or a blue sky after a rainstorm had finally pass, stared lifelessly up at his demon. No more would those eyes crinkle up with mirth and mischief, light with the soft touch of fondness and joy or darken with the strong determination that made him such a charismatic person. They just continued to look upward in shock and betrayal, empty orbs staring accusingly at the person who held their lifeless body to their chest.

His healthy tan pallor that never seemed to diminish despite the fact of being cooped up in board meeting after board meeting was now waxy and pale. It no longer simply glowed with the inner radiance of the spirit within rather it was sucked right out of him and poured onto the oriental carpet in a growing puddle of crimson. How Iruka could so obliviously have bypassed the blood puddle was beyond him but he couldn't ignore the sadness and hatred that gnawed viciously at his young heart.

He was alone in the world again and it was again because of a demon. He had already lost his parents to soul eating demons and only gained a little respite with Minato only to have him snatched up too into their greedy maws as well. It was like some cosmic joke made at the poor orphan boy's expense as he watched each precious person that he named lay dead on the floor to see no more.

Iruka wished, he wished, oh Kami he wished that Kyuubi's tail had come down and crushed his body. It would have been a brief burst of pain that would shoot across all his nerve endings, making him choke on a stillborn scream before he would join the ones he cared about most. It would have been a more merciful way to go then to watch as he was again left behind.

'We were going to go to a game…' He thought this childishly before trying to jerk out of the grip his demon had on him, the same demon that prevented his swift death. He felt so numb, so numb and hollow and Kakashi's touch was burning him. He couldn't breathe with that thing so close to him making him feel like he was breathing in molten lava that burned at his lungs and ate as his oxygen so that each breath full wasn't enough and Kyuubi. His gaze as he looked his aristocratic nose down on him scorched him further when he wanted to curl up into a sobbing ball and lose himself in his misery.

He hurt so much that he wanted to fight back. He hurt so much that he wanted to make Kyuubi hurt the way he hurt. To rip away that precious part of him that made him tick. That part of him that made him want to get up eagerly each morning to embrace a new day. He wanted to devastate Kyuubi; he wanted to annulated him so that each breath he dragged into his lungs was a constant reminder that he was alive and his precious one wasn't.

He wanted… he wanted… he wanted… He wanted his brother back. He wanted to curl up on the couch with his Aniki to watch something even as boring as news before Minato 'muted' the television set and asked him about his day. No matter how dull in comparison to his own day Iruka knew that his Aniki would listen, smile and nod. He wanted that back. To remember his mother's hearty laughter or the way his usually stern father would dance his mother around the room when the thought of their poverty seemed to overwhelm them.

There was so much want in him, so much need in him that he choked in it; drowned in it until it pour downed his cheeks and heaved out his chests in silent, hiccupping sobs. It was because of those demons. Demons were the ones that came to his impoverish village and gutted his parents' right in front of him because they wanted him and his spiritual potential.

Why the hell would they give a rat's ass that Minato was the only thing that kept his sanity intact. They were only selfish and loathsome creatures that couldn't be blame because humans made them that way. But that didn't excuse them, not one bit when they were the ones that ripped away his childhood, hope and dreams leaving nothing for him to cling onto but himself.

So with a cry he recklessly launched himself at Kyuubi knowing that it was a suicidal fool's attempt powered by rage and so much despair. Kakashi confidently wrapped his arm around his owner's waist and the poor brunette fought him. Iruka blindly kicked and clawed at the air; his tears obscured the sight of Minato and Kyuubi until they were wobbly blotches of red and yellow as he tried to escape to maim. Then when the kindhearted brunette finally realized it was useless he took in a shuddering breath before he poured his rage out into words.

"HOW COULD YOU! YOU SICK BASTARD, HOW COULD YOU TAKE AWAY THE ONE THING THAT MEANT ANYTHING TO ME. I HAVE NO ONE NOW! WAS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED? WAS IT… WAS IT! TO LEAVE ME WITH NOTHING TO BELIEVE IN!" he howled out so loudly that his voice cracked at the end. His throat burned with the rawness of his yelling before he fell back to more hiccupping sobs all the while a migraine beat viciously behind his right eye, radiating lancing amounts of pain throughout his entire head.

Iruka's face was now blotchy pink from his frustration and grief as he ignored the chocolate locks that fell from the tight restrains of his ponytail to flop against his eyes and brush against his shoulders. He seemed like a broken shell of his former self as he cried audibly this time while simultaneously sagging against Kakashi. All the fight suddenly left him so that he was left with this hollow empty feeling that weighed heavily on his chest and dragged his limbs downwards.

'It was useless… who was I kidding… I was always meant to be alone…'

So caught up was Iruka in his own private pity party that he didn't realize that Kyuubi himself was in his own personal hell. That was until suddenly Kyuubi let out such a primal, heart shattering cry of pain and despair that it floored even the grief-stricken Iruka as it ripped pass the demon's lips. It reverberated through their bodies, bouncing off the walls to explore every nook and cranny of the once immaculate study before seeking sanctuary somewhere else in the house; it carried with it the sound of such pain and grief that it sounded like the wails and screams of the entire human race.

Iruka couldn't believe that sound was coming out of Kyuubi and not himself as his head jerked up in wonder. That was what he had felt like doing and yet on Minato's demon it held such sincerity that his wails of pain paled in comparison, making his heart throb in sympathy; it was as if Kyuubi was the only one in the entire world who should be rightfully grieving for the lost of his Aniki and not himself. The sound simply raped his ears with such intensity and feeling that covering his ears up was useless. And for just a wavering moment he suddenly doubted that the blonde demon was the actual killer.

Who could possibly cry like that without meaning it from the very tip of their toes to the hair follicles on top of their head? He stared with round eyes at this great beast, tears still blurring his own vision and clinging to saturated lashes so that he didn't realize until he wiped the wetness away what chaos Kyuubi had managed to invoke. That in all this time that his mind had tried to wrap around his Aniki's death, nine shadowy tails had unfurled from Kyuubi's backside to lash viciously and blindly out at the room.

His heart throbbed and sputtered in his chest at the realization that if it wasn't for his demon he could have died several times over in the span of his grief as the tails whipped blindly around, smashing and cracking against neatly stacked bookshelves dispersed around the study. They created mini avalanches as texts such as Plato, Socrates and other dead philosophers lay in literary corpses on the once gleaming wooden floor. Their broken bodies piled up, mingling among the rubble of a bookcase that completely fell over joining the remains of his Aniki's desk that had somehow flipped to stand up as a Stonehenge marvel on its side. Even the stone fireplace was caved in, crumbling and sagging in the middle until not even the mantelpiece was distinguishable among the rubble.

Iruka realized with bone chilling realization that this must be what a demon looked like when they finally snapped, pushed passed all reasoning. Kyuubi's eyes that once lit with such intelligence and understanding were now blazing garnets of cruel intent and madness as he held tightly to his human as if he was still precious. The bloody tears continued to fall as once again Kyuubi screamed his pain out, wanting the world to know his despair as everything literally and figuratively came crashing down around him.

"HE'S MINE, MINE, MMMMIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNEEEEEEE!" he screeched surpassing any banshee wail as his neatly kept reddish blonde hair fell in a blazing halo around his head. This was the god of destruction embodied inside this demon as suddenly his maw yawned open impossibly wide to show a glowing ball of light in the back of his throat. (5) It was blindingly bright and grew larger and larger inside Kyuubi's mouth, barely fitting as it sizzled against his lips.

Iruka didn't know what that thing was but he had a sinking feeling that if Kyuubi launched that attack then he would surely die. And suddenly in a cruel twist of events he didn't want to die anymore as the room was lit by the miniature sun of the fire demon. His need to live clawed unbearably at his chest born of his human's instinct of survival as he screwed his eyes shut. He could feel his demon wrap his arms protectively around his small frame to shelter the brunt of the blow when suddenly it was gone.

Suddenly the blinding light was gone and so was Kyuubi, leaving a crumpled Minato behind to lay in his own blood as the berserker demon was sucked back to his own realm. It was such a cruel, blessed miracle that all the poor eleven year old cold do was choke on a sobbing laugh.

"The young master is tired right now and I am pretty sure that all of you have had an exhausting day." Kakashi's calm, monotone voice floated up to the brunette amid the wreckage of his flashback. Iruka clung to the thread of that voice, dragging himself slowly out of the darkness of his past to cling helplessly to the one person who proved his worth to him over and over again despite his initial fear of him.

He could barely see how Kakashi's toneless words were betrayed by a cruel twist of his clothed lips at the last part but thanked him from the bottom of his heart that it was all over. Kakashi would send these people away and take him to his room where he can hopefully have a dreamless sleep. The thought made him smile just a bit in relief as he stubbornly kept his eyes close for fear that Kyuubi might invoke other memories of when Minato was still alive.

"Hayate and Genma-sensei will see you out," Kakashi said as his final dismissal before breezing past the small Uchiha clan. The teachers that had accompanied them on the ceremony had already fled like cowards when the fight began leaving only Genma-sensei and Hayate behind to assist the distraught little group through the hellhole of a dungeon to the light of the waning day.

"I love my scarf," Kakashi said after a little bit of climbing stairs. Both eyes were now open and looking down at his miserable brunette who looked like not even the Jaws of Life would rip him from Iruka's grip. A soft smile lit across his lips at the look of concentrated determination on his Iruka's tearstained face.

"Huh? What?" the young headmaster asked in confusion. He finally ventured to open his eyes to stare into the mismatch pair of his Guardian. Iruka was always taken aback when he gazed onto blood red and stormy blue. His eyes were so frightening and attractive at the same time that each time he fully gazed into them Iruka suddenly received excited chills.

"I said I loved my scarf. You know the one you made for me. It's a symbol of our love for one another," Kakashi insisted, one handedly drawing up a bit of red scarf even as he continued to carry Iruka up to his room on the top floor of the school.

"No it's not. It's just a stupid scarf," the befuddled headmaster muttered, cheeks warm with embarrassment at the amused light in Kakashi's eyes.

"That you made for me from the heart," the silver haired man pointed out again.

"What is wrong with—" Iruka began in frustration, worried that Kakashi was intent on playing around with him so he could see his flush of embarrassment and frustration.

"Tell me you love me," Kakashi said calmly, suddenly serious as he stopped right outside of Iruka's private quarters.

"Wh… Why?" Iruka asked cautiously, narrowing big doe brown eyes suspiciously at his not-so-innocent demon. He still had a death grip on his demon but if Kakashi was going to play with his already frayed emotion today, especially when he was still sick, then he'd—

"I need… I need to know you still love me despite the fact that he's back," Kakashi began with a slight quiver to his voice even as he gently pried Iruka's grip from his shirt front so that he could sit his brunette master down on the ground to look at him. "Tell me that you love me," he softly demanded looking into confused mocha orbs.

Iruka hesitated. Not because he didn't love the usually proud and somewhat perverted demon. He hesitated because it was sometimes rare to see Kakashi so vulnerable and in need of his reassurances. It was so humbling to think that 'how he felt about the man in front of him' meant the world to the cocky, intelligent demon so that his heart swelled with the warmth and need to reassure him.

"Of course I love you Kashi. You marked my heart a long time ago," Iruka breathed out in awe. He then reached trembling fingers up to draw down his demon's mask, showing him fully a wickedly handsome face that only he was privy to see before hungry, hot lips crashed down on his as he was pinned against his door.

AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER, IN THE UCHIHA KITCHEN

It seemed only natural for all three participants of the Summoning Ceremony to adjourn to the kitchen for a cup of coffee or tea. Kisame assisted Mikoto in carrying the still sleeping Sasuke up to his room where his mother, gently tucked him in and kissed his forehead. For the first time in nine years she fished for and pulled out the baby monitor, turning it on and placing it by his bedside before taking its companion down the stairs with her.

She smiled gently at Kisame as he pulled out a kitchen stool for her before sitting down and resting the baby monitor in front of her. "How are you feeling anyway Kisame?" Mikoto questioned even as she gratefully began to wrap her fingers around the mug her son offered her. She gave her eldest a warm smile of appreciation as well, thanking him for the foresight of brewing up some peppermint tea for her.

"It's just a little headache. It will go away in time," Kisame reassured the petite woman. He plucked the tea kettle from Itachi before he could protest and pulled out a chair for him so he could sit down with only a faint blush and frown to show his owner's embarrassment.

"It really wasn't right what Kakashi did to you," Itachi muttered darkly. He took one of the lightly powdered almond teacakes that his mother and Guardian made earlier that day before biting delicately into the light buttery crust, savoring it. Neither Itachi nor Sasuke were much into sweets unless they came homemade from this kitchen. Anything else made him cringe in remembrance of those insipid fan girls that plagued his childhood and tried to force him to eat their sweets.

"It was probably a necessary evil," Kisame said reasonably, although his jaw muscles jumped as he ground his teeth together. He settled down with his favorite cup of Chai and tried to resist the urge to touch the small bump on the back of his head. Sure it would quickly heal and fade away because like all demons he could heal easily but the indignity of it all wouldn't fade away as quickly.

"Still… he touched what was mine," Itachi snapped bitterly before narrowing his eyes at the flash of teeth at Kisame's sudden grin. "Don't look so amused, you are mine."

"Yes, Master. Of course I am," the Mediterranean looking demon said docilely enough. But the mischievous glint in his dark onyx orbs and the sudden appearance of his dimples showed that he found the whole situation genuinely amusing.

"But really what was with that? The whole ceremony scared the bejesus out of me from start to finish. I mean is that really ordinary for a dark dome to form like that around the summoning circle and how could my poor boy sleep through practically the whole thing?" Mikoto pondered aloud, bemoaning the entire situation as she nearly sloshed her hot tea against the ceramic island table as her fingers began to tremble.

She was pretty sure that the whole situation scared a bit of years off of her and she wouldn't be surprised at all if in the morning she woke up to her first gray hair. The fact that her husband wasn't there to help mediate the situation in anyway was disheartening to say the least and she was sure to give him a good dressing down as soon as he came back from whatever mysterious meeting he was dragged into.

"No, Mikoto-san that isn't normal. I'm almost one hundred percent sure that this demon Kyuubi, if that's his real name, created that dome so he could do something without anyone else seeing. I don't know quite what it is yet but if the reason for Sasuke sleeping like the dead is any indication of what is to come then we should all pay close attention to him," Kisame said seriously even as he gently drew the cup away so that Mikoto wouldn't burn herself.

"That is what I was worried about though." Mikoto insisted as she took up a teacake to nibble on so that her hands had something to do.

"I'm sure if there was anything serious to worry about than Iruka-sama wouldn't have allowed his demon to dismiss us so easily," Kisame tried to reassure though Itachi could see doubt barely hidden within his eyes.

"Well he didn't really look up for talking after he'd collapse. He could have just brushed our situation to the side until another day," Itachi said wryly, having to put the possibly truth out there. It displeased him that the young headmaster could brush the Uchiha name to the side like that for some common cold and a situation that happened many years ago with Sasuke's new demon.

"Well it's sort of understandable. I mean, he did come down to the dungeon in his sick condition, which we should all be grateful for because now we have Sasuke back with us. He could have just as easily sent some other people to handle the situation instead of dealing with it personally," Mikoto insisted, wanting to protect the poor dear. Even though she had been wrapped up in hugging and comforting the sleeping Sasuke she couldn't ignore how bitter the headmaster sounded when he spoke Kyuubi's name or the way he seemed to collapse at the mere presence of him. If rumors were true it was all the more understandable that Iruka's demon dismissed them to take care of his master.

"How does someone like this Iruka person become a headmaster anyway? He can't be much older than me and he doesn't really seem that qualified," Itachi pointed out. The elder son was a smidge jealous that someone so young could've risen to such a title faster than himself without him noticing. He was fifteen and a half and had already graduated from high school. There was much buzz surrounding him as he started his first year in college that he would be in great demand once he graduated and started internship somewhere. But the fact that this nameless nobody could possibly surpass his intellectual genius and his demon's might rub the Uchiha the wrong way.

"Well actually he is twenty-one. Apparently Iruka Namikaze, the headmaster of Konoha's top private school, is Minato Namikaze's adopted brother," Mikoto said in a hushed tone as if someone would somehow overhear their conversation.

"So he relied on his brother's name to get to where he is." Itachi finished, a bit relieve to see that his position as the number one rising star wasn't really being changed.

"Well… no. The Council… well you know who the council is, the council wanted to groom Iruka to take his place as the Kage no Ô because not only was he thattalented but he was also favored by such a powerful person as Minato and his predecessor Sarutobi. But unfortunately he declined the offer in order to put himself wholeheartedly into flourishing the school that his brother had started to create in order to help manage and create strong Demon Summoners who knew what they were getting into. I'm surprised you haven't heard of him," Mikoto confessed even as she took up her tea again to drain it of its contents.

"I have. I just thought of this miracle headmaster person as being someone a lot older and young in the Council's definition as 'young', not my own definition," Itachi confessed, disheartened by the latest stats on his newest rival.

"I completely understand what you mean. But it's a really inspiring story once you think about it. How he lost everything at eleven and fought for not only his survival when the Council tried to deny him ownership of his brother's property but his place in the world as well. I mean can you honestly imagine how traumatized he must have been seeing his brother's killer holding his dead body, almost dying in the process himself before making such a success of himself? I would be absolutely devastated. I don't think I could ever imagine someone as close as actual family just going berserk and killing their loved ones. I don't care if they were ordered to or not. You'd have to be some kind of monster," Mikoto breathed out passionately in a hushed whisper before shivering appropriately.

"Yes, I guess to imagine that, you'd have to imagine one of your own slaughtering the whole family to even come close to Iruka's level. And I hear this isn't the first time he lost his loved ones," Kisame mused aloud in agreement, patting her hand in reassurance even as he gauged his master's reaction. He could see so clearly that Itachi had now found a rival worthy of himself to defeat and he himself had to admit that he wouldn't mind going up against Iruka's Kakashi.

Just as each individual was inclined to lose themselves in their own personal thoughts about the events that had recently unfolded and the information that they just learned they all stiffened at a sudden noise. A piercing scream that suddenly seemed to be coming from the baby monitor and another part of the house, alerting them all that Sasuke was in serious trouble.

To be continued…

(1) -The scarf was actually inspired by Kakashi's ANBU outfit. I thought it was a cute idea to keep even if he's not an ANBU shinobi in this story.

(2) – Since this is an AU and I like to bring some things from the anime and make it fit into the different settings, I decided to make Kakashi's favorite attack Chidori become the name of his sword instead. Also just as it's hinted that Kyuubi's element was fire and Kisame's possibly water, Kakashi's is most definitely lightening.

(3) - One of the advantages of Kakashi's Chidori is that even if the attack doesn't slice the opponent, the air around the sword is so intensely charged by the electrical current coursing through the blade that it acts like an invisible knife that just as easily slices if the opponent is too close to it.

(4) -The cave was actually inspired a bit by the cave in Saiyuki when Goku was vanished to spend his immortality inside it as well as inspired by the cave Kimimaro was forced to stay trapped in until he was needed. Since demons live on spiritual energy and the powers that be locked him in such a desolate area with sparse vegetation and creatures to feed off of Kyuubi was left with a gnawing hunger that has yet to be sated.

(5) -This is the same attack used when Naruto grew more than three tails and began to look more than a little bit like Kyuubi in the manga/anime. In that form he had lost all sense of reasoning and attacked friend and foe alike. He also formed an energy ball that left such a deep furrow of devastation in the forest as he fought against Orochimaru which coincidentally injured Sakura in the time skip.

(6) - Not only can Naruto release an energy beam that could create utter destruction like in the anime, his tail in this story can drain an unfortunate individual of their spiritual energy if it touches them. If the person is touched too long by the tail that person will either die or become a complete vegetable so best to avoid it altogether if you can.

(7) - Naruto is running on barely a quarter of his powers since when he arrived back to the human world he was ravenous with hunger. Not even draining Sasuke completely would put him at a hundred percent. It might have taken everyone who was there at the dungeon at that time to get him humming with power but his efforts would defeat the purpose because of course as soon as his master dies he will be sent back to the demon world.

(8) – Kakashi used a similar attack on Zabuza to restrain him so that he could use his Chidori. It's good for holding enemies in place, especially if you are using an attack that takes a while before it warms up.

A/N: Do you realize how long it took me to write the first chapter? Plus it was seventeen pages and then you guys had the nerve to review and send my star out of orbit. I thank you bunches for that.

Aya and Lady Laran thanks again for being my impromptu dream team. You guys may not know it but you keep me from going all pessimistic and insane with worry about how I should continue each new chapter/story by reassuring me constantly that I'm on the right path. Kei-chan I hear you want to join the fold and become my beta. But be forewarned I'll type your ear off with story ideas that I must abstain from until I finish the ones I have first. Anyway I hope you enjoy and I look forward to many more comments in the future.


	3. Never Take a Demon Home With You

Hello this is Hopeless_Blue_Kiss here wanting to give big thanks to those who have reviewed this story. I know some might find it difficult to comment but I really do love it when you do. You make me want to type all that much faster for you and since I just started back at school it's going to be all the harder for me to update when I have to focus on work and class assignments too. So yeah… ENJOY, RATE, and REVIEW!

Demons Have The Most Fun: A Cautionary Tale

You hold me without touch./   
You keep me without chains./  
I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

~Gravity by Sara Bareilles

/Recap/

"Yes, I guess to imagine that, you'd have to imagine one of your own slaughtering the whole family to even come close to Iruka's level. And I hear this isn't the first time he lost his loved ones," Kisame mused aloud in agreement, patting her hand in reassurance even as he gauged his master's reaction. He could see so clearly that Itachi had now found a rival worthy of himself to defeat and he himself had to admit that he wouldn't mind going up against Iruka's Kakashi.

Just as each individual was inclined to lose themselves in their own personal thoughts about the events that had recently unfolded and the information that they just learned they all stiffened at a sudden noise. A piercing scream that suddenly seemed to be coming from the baby monitor and another part of the house, alerting them all that Sasuke was in serious trouble.

Chapter Two: Never Take a Demon Home with You

The night didn't start off as a scream as Sasuke luxuriated in the memory of his alluring demon. The child curled a bit on himself as if trying to capture that burning heat he felt when those fingers caressed his cheek and those fanged teeth nipped teasingly at his skin so that he begged for more. It unleashed a need deep inside of him that his young mind couldn't quite grasp. A fleet of butterflies knocked around in his tummy as his cheeks warmed at the memory and his arms prickled with goose bumps of excitement.

Long, dark lashes fluttered against his high cheekbones as he concentrated on capturing the essence of his Naruto. His delicate brows were scrunched together in concern when he didn't immediately feel hard, unforgiving flesh against his soft skin. There was nothing to meld against, he suddenly realized, as he blindly searched in the darkness and called out his demon's name.

"Naruto... Naruto please come here, I'm cold." Sasuke pleaded softly with the demon that was just out of sight. His eyes tried to flutter open to look into warm ochre pools that seemed to hold a coveted secret but each attempt he tried was met with Naruto's words from before.

'Close your eyes little one… just sleep…'

It echoed in his head, dragging him further down into slumber. He drowned in the weariness that crashed down over him; it pulled down on his tired limbs, dragging him down until he was once again walking in darkness.

His cheeks burned with a combination of embarrassment, frustration and naive anticipation at the thought that his Guardian was looking at his helpless form right now in the waking world searching for the fiend. He could picture the blonde leaning against his bedroom's dresser or in some shadowy corner. He would look down at him coolly, his lips twitched slightly up in the barest sign of amusement.

Arms would be crossed over that bare tan chest of his and Naruto would drink in the look of utter confusion, helpless despair and frustration that would play across his young master's features. He would probably luxuriate in it longer just to hear the young Uchiha plea for his nearness before consenting with a dark, rich chuckle that would crash over him in a warm, velvety tidal wave.

'Tears... he likes to see me cry.' Sasuke thought frantically, as he fought in vain to get back to the waking world where his Naruto was. He nearly buried his heated face against his bed sheets in his embarrassment and frustration. His bottom lip held captive between his teeth at the memory of how Naruto complimented him on his tears of frustration. The blonde demon had called them 'pretty tears' as he pushed the child to his breaking point.

Sasuke wanted that now… to be pushed pass thoughts of caring how he looked to anyone else but Naruto. The blonde was the only person that mattered to him right now. His whole world hinged on him.

Tears began to leak from between his lashes at the thought of pleasing his Naruto. He wanted to show him how weak and pitiful he was when his skin was deprived of his caresses and playful nips. A mew of helpless need came from deep within his throat at how his body craved to be closer, always closer. The small Uchiha couldn't describe this all-consuming feeling to be consumed by someone or something greater than himself but he felt it.

He was dizzy with this burning want that gnawed at his stomach and heart. It was such an intense feeling that he didn't know what to do with it except give in. It hurt so much, 'this need' that his breath was coming out in hot, little pants.

'It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. I need… I want… please… Naruto, please...' The whirlwind of thoughts were now on constant loop. Sasuke arched his back beautifully for the invisible Naruto, licking petal soft lips even as he exposed his neck for the taking like some wanton sacrifice when he was stabbed with such shock and panic that the only way he could eclipse it was with the sound of his own scream.

INSIDE THE DREAM

Sasuke could only vaguely remember sinking back into the murky depths of sleep again when he saw a taut red string that was barely visible in the inky black abyss. He touched it because he had this unerring feeling that it would lead him to his demon and suddenly he found himself in front of Naruto. It was as if someone had managed to suck his soul out through a little straw and spit him out on the other side, into the school's dungeon. The small Uchiha would have pushed away the feeling of disorientation and nausea for the most part except there was blood. There was so much blood that it laid splattered out in little, miniature pools at his feet and it all belonged to Naruto.

Naruto was hurting. Naruto was hurting and in pain and all he could do was open his mouth and scream as he was brought back to the cusp of waking. He wanted to sink back in. He wanted to dive back into his dream world to save his demon because it seemed less like a dream and more like ugly reality as he finally managed to find the red string again. He grasped it tightly in his little fist, realizing that in his shock he had let it go, which in turn took him away from his Guardian. But now he was back again and the blonde was still in trouble. Naruto was covered in his own blood and sweat; stretched out like some faux messiah for another bite of the whip.

The summoning circle was no longer there, probably cleaned up by one of the school's custodians. The torches were still blazing as best as they could in the cold dungeon and there his fiend stood in the middle of it all. His arms outstretched, blood dribbling and branching out in little crimson rivulets from his wrists where the iron fetters bit too harshly into his flesh as he struggled to free himself.

Sasuke's world seemed to tilt completely on its axis at the snap of the whip, his hand convulsing around the red string even as he instinctively flinched. He saw it all. A flash of teeth, a hiss of pain followed by a warning growl as some strange brunette woman in a trench coat chortled in the background at his demon's stubbornness and it hurt him. It hurt him to see this and not be able to do anything about it but tremble in a corner.

The small Uchiha had a feeling that the participants in the room couldn't see him standing there a little to the side. If he reached out and tried to touch one of his demon's tormentors he was pretty sure his hand would go right through them. But his cowardly heart, which thumped madly in his ears, was afraid to draw attention to himself even as another crimson 'X' was added to golden flesh, branding his Naruto further.

"Kyuubi tell us what we want and my Guardian Ibiki will stop," soothed the only female occupant in the room. She appeared to be like a villain or extra from the Matrix movie the way she oozed sex, danger and confidence. The strange, voluptuous woman couldn't hide her curves under the short, chic trench coat; especially when she had a leather belt cinch so tightly around her waist that some might doubt she was wearing anything under it except maybe those killer black bitch boots that gave her the extra height and needed leverage.

The young woman who seemed to be in control of this impromptu torture session appeared to be in her early twenties; purple highlights were barely seen against her updo of dark chocolate hair in the flickering light of the candlelit room. Her irises were lavender grey and flashed with such cruel amusement at the golden haired demon's obvious pain that it made the poor child shiver from head to toe. She seemed to anticipate each stinging blow and lick her mauve painted lips in appreciation as the blood continued to flow down sinewy muscles and hard planes.

Her demon barely sweated as he continuously cracked the whip against the chained demon with such precise strokes. The weapon of choice cracked open tender flesh as if the metal bits of the whip were biting into a juicy apple that exploded with flavor. The wielder, Ibiki, was a tall, intimidating brute with all sharp angles. His head had slight dents and bumps here in there as if he was molded out of putty by unskilled hands while two slicing scars further marred his intense features.

Ibiki's mouth seemed to be scraped out with a jack knife, the way the excess flesh seem to gather at one corner of his mouth, dragging that end down as if by a buildup of clay. But that held nothing on the raised, little crisscrossing scars on top of his bald, pockmarked head that only made the golden eyed demon wonder what the hell did his crazy ass Mistress do to him.

Naruto let out a bark of laughter as if he could honestly somehow find amusement in the situation he was placed in. He knew what she said was absurd and he decided to say so for the last time. "I don't remember anything. I've been 'named' remember?" he snapped out, blood dribbling down his lips. (1) "But even if I knew I wouldn't tell a crazy, psycho bitch like you. I'd rather die and drag your sorry ass carcass to hell with me!" He growled out with such force that the torches' light flickered for a moment before he spat out a bloody gob onto the dungeon's floor.

"You know… I was really hoping you wouldn't say that," drawled out the sensual female voice before continuing with a cruel twist of her lips. "Maybe I should beat it out of your flesh some more." Her words were thoughtful as she stepped around the gob of blood at her feet to sashay her way closer to him. Her painted black nails ran up his sides, gathering up the warm slippery red liquid before she teasingly circled a dusky brown nipple while debating whether to lick up a bit of blood off the demon's cheek before Naruto made a move to bite a chunk out of her.

"Awww, don't be that way. I think you're kind of sexy and edible all covered up in blood and sweat, trembling with pint up rage and gnashing teeth. It makes me just want to rape you. But… if you rather feel the caress of the whip instead of the caress of my tongue and fingers then… Ibiki whip him until he begs for me to stop. I want to see him crack and beg for my forgiveness and maybe… just maybe I'll think about it," she cooed, licking up the blood she had captured up on her fingertips.

"With pleasure Mistress Anko," Ibiki agreed with a knowing smirk, raising his whip high again.

IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD, SASUKE'S ROOM

Another scream of frustration and despair was crawling out of Sasuke's mouth and ripping past his lips as the sound of thundering feet reached his bedroom door. Undeterred by the door slamming open, the small frame of the frightened boy arched, hips lifting off the bed as if the scream was literally raking up his lungs and trying to force its way out of his body with it. Hands quickly pushed down at his shoulders, trying to keep him down in bed even as his mother's worried voice tried to shush and reassure her son.

"Sasuke... Sasuke sweetie it's me. It's your mother. Sweetie… Please open your eyes. It's okay it's just a dream," cooed out Mikoto, kissing her son's sweaty brow before taking his hand. She settled on the side of the bed, lips never leaving his forehead as she whispered reassurance after reassurance over him before accentuating it with yet another kiss.

But he couldn't hear them. He wouldn't open his eyes as he cried out for the one person he couldn't touch. His legs felt like lead as hot tears rolled down his cheeks. Tears that he had shed earlier for his Naruto came so much more easily now as he watched them torture his demon.

He wanted… he needed. Sasuke's body still craved for the blonde fiend like his lungs craved air. He wanted to feel the caress of fangs teasing him, making him mew out for more before they sank in. Sasuke wanted that feeling of euphoria and wholeness that only Naruto could bring in just the short time of knowing the blonde and they were hurting him… touching him. They were desecrating what was rightfully his; carving up the Uchiha's aching heart even as they tore away at that golden skin that felt so warm and inviting against his flushed cheeks.

'Stop… Stop… please…'

'I want… I need…'

'Stop… you are hurting him… Please…'

'I want to feel his skin… his breath… to feel his fangs against…'

"STOP HURTING HIM! HE'S MINE! HE'S MINE! I BROUGHT HIM HERE SO… SO PLEASE!" Sasuke let out a screeching wail of desperation as he clawed at something he couldn't get to. He could feel his mother trying to hold him down, trying to draw her hurting son into her arms. He could feel it and he fought all the harder because that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Naruto, needed to know he was okay and felt like he would simply explode if he couldn't feel some sort of reassurance from his demon.

Itachi saw his precious Otouto struggle against their beloved mother, crying freely and the eldest had this burning need to protect him. The older Uchiha brother wanted to cradle Sasuke in his arms and tell him that everything would be okay. He wanted to crawl right in bed with him and coax him to open up his eyes to show him that it was only a dream. But it seemed that the way Sasuke was fighting, it had to be more than that.

The keening wail for 'Naruto' stabbed at him sharper than any weapon or betrayal could. Itachi had started to walk confidently towards Sasuke, expecting to hear his brother cry for him at any moment when he heard that other man's name on his lips. It was Itachi that his Otouto ran to when he had nightmares. (2) It was his body that he sought out in the darkness to comfort his troubled mind but this foreign name, the same name that his Otouto had picked out for his demon with such care, was the name that fell with such desperation from his lips.

'He did this to him. Kyuubi, he…' Itachi thought darkly as he moved to sit on the other side of Sasuke. He fought pass his feelings of jealousy and rage at the demon that wasn't even there to slowly coax his mother to let him hold his brother. Gently he brushed sweaty, inky locks from his brother's forehead. He made soft shushing sounds and pushed his Otouto's hands down as the boy reached once more for something he obviously couldn't see.

"Bad dreams, bad dreams go away. Good dreams, good dreams here to stay." Itachi whispered those words into the shell of his little brother's ear three times as if it they were some sacred chant. His one free hand that wasn't cradling the child's form moved in a small circle around the child's chest and abdomen as if part of the ritual. (3) The Uchiha always said these words when his brother came to him after a nightmare and it seemed that it really reassured him as it was doing right now.

He could feel Sasuke sagging against him after the third time he said it. The eldest kissed the sleeping one's sweaty brow before looking into the concerned eyes of his mother. "It's Kyuubi, or whatever his name is that has Sasuke acting like this. I don't know what he has done but—" Itachi began in an angry, hushed tone even as he unconsciously rubbed circle's against his brother's back now. His fingers, however, suddenly stiffened at the next words that broke from the air.

"My name is Naruto, not Kyuubi. And I haven't done anything… yet."

The voice, so much like Sasuke's but not, interrupted whatever Mikoto Uchiha was about to say. It was thicker, richer with a scratchy, growly undertone that made all three occupants shiver as one as they peered down in wonder at the now awaken child only to recoil at the flash of honey-yellow wrapped inside a thin red band. The irises stared up at them from Sasuke's tear streaked face but they weren't the stormy gray that they were used to seeing. More like they reminded them of the hatred-filled eyes of Sasuke's demon that they had been all but been certain was locked in the school's dungeon.

Itachi drew away from his brother as if burned as he watched as something dark fluttered and spread across his Otouto's right cheek in inky black tendrils. (4) The source stemmed from three tomoe marks encircled in a delicate intricate line on his neck that seemed to glow a molten reddish-orange; the inky leaves that unfurled from the source quickly crawled down the creamy white expanse of the adolescent's right arm to his hand as well as a bit pass the bridge of his nose. The child seemed unfazed by the moving ink, looks of horror, and unceremonious unseating from his Aniki's lap.

Instead the man-child recovered fairly quickly to lay his small, nine year old body against the pillows behind him like he was an imperious, little prince. A crooked, little smile splayed across pale, petal soft lips as if genuinely amused by their cautious looks. The small Uchiha rested small hands on his chest as he absorbed the mother, brother and demon's reaction, savoring it. Naruto had grown tired of Sasuke's older brother simpering over a lost cost so the evil fiend deemed it necessary to let his presence be known to all.

A FEW MINUTES BEFORE, BACK AT THE SCHOOL

Rip, rend, devour, and destroy…

Naruto would first tie his two tormentors up like squealing pigs for the slaughter. He'd let them dangle by their wrists a few inches from the ground on meat hooks letting the weight of their own bodies plus the added weight of dead meat and gravity drag at their arms and legs. The fiend would leave them in that position for maybe a day or more until a shoulder or two dislocated, and then he'd skin them alive. He'd start at their navel and slice upward, watching the gaping red line grow as the innards threaten to spill out. The demon would savor it, their screams, as he stopped long enough so that that one captive wouldn't pass out as he moved to the other one.

Naruto would make sure that the two would face each other so that they would see how the other was slowly gutted in front of their companion. He would make sure they felt no pleasure in the pain he would ruthlessly give them. They would cry until there were no more tears to shed, scream until their voices became soundless hissing sounds as their throats seized up. And only when he had broken them thoroughly, had reduced them to gibbering heaps of flesh with the same whip that they used on him, he would become their kindhearted angel of death and devour their souls.

The demon embraced such murderous thoughts and licked his bloody, bruised lips as he tried to hold back another hiss of pain. His clawed fingers instinctively flexed at the red, wetness that he would soon feel against them as he carefully channeled the spiritual energy needed for his escape.

Grind, crunch, twist, and bend…

They were pathetic… humans. They wanted him to forget the past sins of his former masters and yet they wanted him to recall something that was no longer in his powers to recall. Humans were nothing but simpering, spineless meat puppets that were born wanting and needing. They grasped for power wherever they could find it and to them his kind were nothing more than a means to an end.

Naruto might not have remembered much about his past lives but the cruelty he felt radiating from the demon and his mistress was nothing more than another day in paradise to him. It reeked of déjà vu and cruel familiarity as he gritted his teeth against the fiery bite of the cat o'nine tails whip digging into his flesh. He wondered vaguely to himself how many times did his mouth gap open against screams that nearly raped his throat as it tried to force its way out? How many times did he have to smile and bear it; allow another master or mistress to break him as if he were some unruly horse that wasn't yet used to the bit?

His beauty was marred because of them; flawed by the testaments of pale scars that littered his taut, golden frame. He could have easily erased such ugly trivialities but he was masochistic enough that he wanted to remember each hurtful, pointless marking. Naruto wanted to wake up from every reincarnation knowing that this human would most likely be like the rest even if he couldn't remember anything else. There was no hope… no respite… just this endless loop of pain, endurance and tolerance.

Sure, the ochre-eyed demon could easily squish his human masters like the despicable insects that they probably were but the contract that bound him, was a constant noose around his neck. It pulled tighter, cutting off his air if he misbehaved too much, making him feel lightheaded and disoriented. He felt like a dog on a short leash or rather less than a dog because at least humans thought of those filthy mongrels as man's best friend. But to them demons were despicable creatures that knew nothing about suffering and pain, hunger and lost. Demons were only servants and lovers, playthings and bodyguards that were used to further their career goals while protecting their sorry hides.

'Oh and scapegoats… I can't forget we are scapegoats too,' the blonde thought biting back a cruel twist of his lips.

BACK TO THE PRESENT, SASUKE'S ROOM

Naruto had no home. No family, no friends to miss and care for him. He had nothing that truly belonged to him but the boy he had bitten. The demon had marked him almost as a last ditch effort to own something that no one could take away from and he'd be damned if they would now. So that was why he was here now in Sasuke's body, laying on the boy's bed, staring at the Uchiha's family with a look of amusement bordering on contempt.

The blonde demon had seen his panicked owner through the cloud of pain that washed over him at the school. He could feel his body respond to the closeness even though he knew that Sasuke's real body was somewhere else. But it was clear that the boy's need for him was so strong that his soul had left his body to go searching for the fiend. As weird as that sounded it was touching to the coldhearted, bloodthirsty demon to see the desperate need that Sasuke had to want to take Naruto from the pain. It proved just the incentive he needed to possess the child for just a little while.

"Wh… what are you? Wh… who are you?" Itachi stuttered out then grimaced when he realized he didn't sound as emotionally stunted, as he should sound. He quickly blamed his frayed nerves on the eerie feeling of watching his brother look down at him with such loathing, even if it was with someone else's eyes.

"I'm someone you fear. Someone you hate but also… also someone your precious Otouto wants to please very much. And I am pleased by his utter devotion to me," purred out the voice as he toyed with the corner of a pillow. "You see… Sasuke was gracious enough to let me take over his body for a while. It was really sweet of him to—" the fiend began before he was interrupted.

"Sasuke would never, ever willingly consent to something like this. He might be too young to see what a dangerous monster you are but—"

Naruto began to outright cackle, forcing the little child's head back as the eerie laugh trickled down from pale lips. It left the three with the feeling of an invisible maelstrom of glass shards whipping around the room and striking them in random directions as they watched their Sasuke chuckle so darkly. "Monster?" he shook his adorable, dark head in bemusement.

"You have to be kidding me, you stupid, little, meat puppet because… you see…" the fiend drawled out as he shifted up some and brushed his sweaty bangs from his forehead, "The only monsters that I see right now are staring right back at me." He murmured this before laughing at the foolish human's dumbstruck look while shrugging small, bony shoulders.

"You beat, rape, and break us like we are incapable of human emotions. You take away our names… our pasts and our identities but we can feel… so many things we can feel it all. Love… hate… pain…" He ticked off each feeling even as he ran blunt nails across a pale, flat torso, leaving five wet, scarlet lines in its wake.

"Oh yes, if I am a monster, it's only the monster that you make me out to be," he chortled looking at the glistening, crimson digits critically. He looked at their horror through lowered lids, lips twitching upward in another hard, cruel smile. "But that… unfortunately is beside the point. It's not about me, not really anyway. It's about him and the reason your precious Otouto… your darling son is screaming his adorable little head off isn't because of me but because of want and fear for me.

"You see while you kind folks were probably sitting around the kitchen table sipping expensive teas and chatting amiably about pointless events, I was in pain," he shrugged nonchalantly as if it was no real big deal. "Not just because I'm being whipped mercilessly, mind you, for a crime I don't even remember if I've committed or not; by, may I add, some deranged woman and her bootlicking demon in that cold dungeon you stuck me in. But because I'm being tortured and Sa-su-ke-kun can see it all. We are bonded and you took him away from me so he sought me out. You poor… pathetic… humans… (5)

"Do you really think you could keep me away from what is mine? Oh yes…. he is mine from the hair on top his precious head to the thoughts and dreams he'll soon have about me each night. He knows who his true master is; and if he doesn't I'll make sure he does soon enough," he murmured licking his lips in anticipation.

"Get out of him now!" growled out Itachi as he snapped out of his shocked and outraged state.

He took a threatening step forward, ready to deal alone with the blonde menace that dared to invade his Otouto's body. He shook back twin hands of concern that shot out from both Kisame and his mother as they tried to hold him at bay; worried by what the possessed child would do if he felt threatened. The action only made the eldest Uchiha sibling grind his teeth together, jaw muscles jumping even as he narrowed his darkening orbs at the amused demon.

"Sure I will… just call our dear headmaster and tell him if he doesn't call off those government dogs I'm going to slit their throats and bathe in their blood. You see… I have no obligations to hold back killing them and I'm pretty sure if I really get going I'm going to come for your sorry hides next. So please… if you don't mind, call them off for all our sakes. It's a real bitch getting blood out of my hair and nails, you know." He mused this pleasantly enough, glad that the humans and lone demon were in too much shock to argue sooner before he snuggled back against the pillows and folded his hands against his chest as if he'd fancy a nap.

"Oh… don't forget to bring my Sa-su-ke-kun when you come. He'll feel really lonely and hurt if you don't," he murmured amiably with a slight twitch of the corner of his lips. Eyes fluttered close in slumber for the time being before Kyuubi slowly eased himself from the child's body, making sure not to harm the little one in his exit even as he left utter pandemonium behind him.

BACK AT THE SCHOOL, JUST A MINUTE LATER, WITH IRUKA

Iruka stared blurrily at the wall opposite him as he listened to the hysterical ramblings of one Mikoto Uchiha before the cold, precise voice of her son was put on the line to continue the conversation in a growling hiss. He vaguely nodded his head in agreement as he cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder; his other hand rubbed the sleep from his eyes before he fought back a yawn that threatened to split his face in two.

"Yes, yes I completely understand…. Come right away… You're already halfway here? Fine, fine, then I'll have someone greet you at the door," the brunette murmured sleepily. The longer the conversation carried on, the more awake and alarmed the brunette became as he continued to listen about Sasuke's coma like sleep and Kyuubi's little appearance after they left the school.

By the time Itachi rudely hung up the phone on the headmaster's inability to sound more alarmed, Iruka's tired limbs was trembling with energy. But that didn't stop the sick brunette from sagging moments later against Kakashi, not wanting to deal with the situation anymore. He cuddled closer to his demon's side, welcoming the strong arms that wrapped around him and dragged his slightly smaller frame on top of him. He wanted to bury his face against the silver haired man's cool neck, breathe in his faint cologne and forget everything he just learned.

'I'm tired, sick and I really don't feel like dealing with the Uchihas right now when I spent a good majority of the night fending off Kakashi. I need… I need sleep,' he thought warily, yawning and adjusting himself against his Guardian. He welcomed the warm fingers that crept under his pajama top and rubbed firm, reassuring circles against his back to sooth his troubled mind because he was… troubled and tired and sick. But just as he settled himself to catch a bit more shuteye before having to deal with his new 'guests' he found the silver haired demon's hand creeping a bit lower, ruining the whole, peaceful moment entirely as he moved to slap the sly hand away from his rear end before it could get a firm grip.

"I hate you," he growled out in a low hiss as he lifted up his aching head to glare at his demon. The innocent look that greeted him made him want to narrow his eyes and pulverize the one he had given his heart to. But seeing as he had more pressing matters, he quickly began to push himself up and off the demon only to blink in wonder when he realized that Kakashi wasn't wearing his pajama bottoms… or nothing at all for that matter.

His look of bemusement and the cute tilt of his head made the silver haired demon chuckle darkly as the brunette continued to stare in dumbfounded wonder, unable to fully grasp or appreciate what he was seeing before Kakashi took the headmaster's distraction as an invention to molest some more. He smoothly rolled them both over so that Iruka was now forced to lie on his back with an eager demon between his legs. A hand caressed down the sick man's side to his thigh, preparing to lift the tan leg over his shoulder before Kakashi let out a sigh of his own when his adorable, little brunette didn't protest or at least welcome his advances.

The bi-colored eyed lover ground down his hips to show his partner that 'little Kakashi' needed a little love and attention but all the brunette could do was pet the silver haired male's head distractedly before sighing and pushing at his shoulder.

"Not now. We are having company in the form of the Uchihas' coming soon and I need you to go down to the dungeon and try to pry Anko and Ibiki, because I think that's who it was interrogating Kyuubi currently, from their prize. It seems someone has leaked out information that Kyuubi has returned and wanted to throw him a 'welcome back' party," he sighed out bitterly before moving to get off the bed.

"How do they possibly know if we didn't even know what was going on in our own basement?" Kakashi asked in astonishment even as he reluctantly moved to dress. He looked down at his lap and briefly apologized to 'little Kakashi' for waking it up for nothing. He promised his cock a little 'me' time if Iruka was still not in the mood later tonight before he drew up his boxers.

"It seems that even with as little spiritual energy as Kyuubi has right now, he still managed to possess the Uchiha kid. So if we don't want a bloody massacre on our hands I suggest you get moving while I go see what we have in the school's kitchen to offer our impromptu guests," Iruka grumbled the last part out even as he tried unsuccessfully to find his hair tie.

He didn't even notice when his demon had finally dressed himself completely before dropping a kiss on the frazzled brunette's head before pulling up his Neoprene half facemask only to leave seconds later. He just knew that by the time he had given up looking for his hair tie, slipped into his slippers, splashed some cold water on his face, took the powdered medicine Tsunade made him and wrapped his bathrobe around his slender frame, Kakashi was back again with a tea trolley and his guests in tow.

"I put the other guests in a special room for the time being." The helpful demon breathed this to his Summoner, pausing as Iruka closed and locked his door. His master looked at him oddly for a moment and he wondered if he might have forgotten a task asked by him. But just as he was about to part his lips to ask a question of concern he found Iruka gripping his chin firmly in his hand and tilting his face a bit downward.

Kakashi couldn't stop his treacherous heart from doing a funny, little flip at the thought that his master might desire a kiss. 'And right in front of company too. How pleasantly inappropriate of him,' the platinum blonde thought cheerily. The demon was more than happy to oblige his master, especially after he was so thoroughly jilted in bed. He had even prepared himself to lower his mask just a bit to receive the headmaster's kiss when he suddenly found himself instead frozen in place as he felt something soft and firm fluttering across his cheek.

"You had something right there," the brunette said smoothly, looking down in triumph at the blood that now coated his Kleenex tissue. "And by the looks of it, it seems like you had a little bit of fun," Iruka mused with a small smile of triumph. The clueless brunette then proceeded to pocket the Kleenex before leading his dumbfounded and twice jilted demon and the others down the hall to his official office in the gorgeous school.

"Tea?" Iruka offered tiredly as he watched as the Uchiha brood shuffled inside the office to take their seats in the comfortable chairs in front of his desk. Kisame, he noticed, opted to stand a little ways back with his hands folded in front of him between his Summoner and his Summoner's mother like a true bodyguard. The headmaster didn't even miss the slight narrowing of eyes when the other Guardian spotted Kakashi before staring ahead as if nothing in the room interested him at the moment.

It made his lips spasm upward a bit because he knew his own demon would find Kisame's displeasure amusing. He sighed inwardly and moved to the tea trolley to pour himself a cup of tea out of the expensive bone china teapot. The sick man tucked a few mocha strands behind his ear, so as to prevent the locks from obscuring his face as he bowed slightly over in his task. It was simplistic and calming to do as he moved to place one steaming cup of peppermint tea in front of Mikoto gauging that she'd like three cubes of sugar instead of one or two.

"We have no time for such frivolities," snapped out Itachi, not pleased at all that the sickly man was trying to play at host. The elder Uchiha, who was currently holding his unconscious brother in his arms, felt that there was a time and place for everything and right now was not the time to be having tea parties.

"Tea isn't what I'd really call a frivolity," Iruka began soothingly, a thoughtful look wrinkling his brow before he continued. "It has some calming effects that you seemed to desperately to be in want of. No offense of course," the headmaster began silkily as he placed a saucer and cup in front of the irate Uchiha despite his affronted look.

"Would you like some too, Kisame is it? Or are you of the same mind as your master?" the brunette asked kindly to the tall man. His smile was wane as he unsteadily began to pour another cup of tea, adding a sprig of mint to this cup too. He was about to lift the cup when he realized his hands were trembling to the point that they threatened to slosh out the hot liquid within the precious teacup.

"Allow me," Kakashi insisted before the other Guardian could move to offer his assistance. The silver haired demon, visible eye crinkled up in a crescent smile as he handed the tea carefully to Kisame despite the glacial vibe he was getting off his fellow fiend. He ignored this for the moment to lay some treacle tarts on the desk and made Iruka a cup of tea for him before guiding his master to take a seat making sure that the protesting brunette was comfortable on his lap.

"Can we please get on with it? The young master needs to rest and yet he's still courteous enough as a host to offer you some tea. Be a gracious guest and drink the damn tea because if it was up to me he'd be in bed, not discussing matters with you people until he's fully recovered." Kakashi said this amiably enough but his one visible eye narrowed dangerously even as he reached for a treacle tart for himself.

"Kakashi!" Iruka hissed out clearly scandalized before dissolving into a fit of blushing that made him want to hide his warm face behind his mane of mocha locks. He growled and leaned back a bit against his demon so he could elbow him in the stomach when the masked fiend dared to chuckle at his misery before plastering a fake smile against clothed lips.

"Please pardon my demon Kakashi. He takes his job as my nurse when I'm ill, very seriously. Sometimes too seriously if you ask me," Iruka said brightly before muttering the last part. He was prepared to get up and seek a less disagreeable chair when Kakashi snaked his arm around his waist to pin him to his current spot.

"See? This is what I mean. What's the use of having a deputy Headmaster and Headmistress if you can't use them at your disposal?" Kakashi hissed into the shell of Iruka's ear as he drew the brunette closer. He refused to be denied the nearness of his owner even if he had been thoroughly neglected since the Uchihas arrival. "Especially when you're so good at using me," he chirped up brightly before lowering his mask just enough to bite into the treacle tart.

"I… be that as it may," squeaked out the brunette swatting his hand away from his devious demon to look seriously at the Uchihas. "I know Kyuubi better than anyone right now and I expected your family would be back soon. Not quite this soon, but still… I had a sort of feeling that this was going to happen," Iruka sighed out. He sat up a bit before he felt his stubborn demon drawing him back down again.

"You had a feeling this would happen… and yet you let us go like that? With no explanation to what horrors we were going to face tonight?" Itachi asked calmly although he was obviously seething inside. The rubbing hand on his Otouto's back stopped; fingers clamped down onto the fabric before he forced them to loosen. He took a deep breath and let out a shuddering sigh, leaning forward to accept the tea in thoughts that it may indeed help calm his nerves.

"Yes… well I apologize for that. I think the cold I thought I had is in actuality a fever so it clouded a bit of my judgment. Although then again it could be the shock of seeing Kyuubi for the first time since my Aniki's death that could have forced me to forget such an important matter. It's just that… I've never seen Kyuubi attached to anyone, not even Minato, like that. His desperation, coupled by the curious mark that I could have sworn I saw on Sasuke's neck led me to one conclusion," Iruka finally admitted, decidedly looking down at his tea. He stared at the sprig of mint, frowning as it floated languidly in the murky depths until he was called from his troubled thoughts.

"And what conclusion would that be Iruka-sensei?" Mikoto insisted eagerly, interrupting any rebuking comment that her eldest may have had.

"Simply put... the symptoms that he is feeling are akin to a drug addict's sudden withdrawal from his drugs. Right now Naruto is his drug of choice and your desperate need to keep him away from the demon, dangerous though he may be, is doing more harm than good," Iruka summarized before taking a sip of his own tea. As farfetched as it sounded he knew and experienced the same symptoms himself when he was first bitten by a certain silver haired demon.

"Ho… how could this be? I… I, mean I have never heard of any other students reacting like this after a… a summoning," Mikoto began in bewilderment. Her fingers seemed to tremble as she shifted in her chair to clasp onto her son's hand that was offered to her. She looked at her other son with such agitation and worry that she wished not for the first or last time that her husband had actually come home after he had been called away. She wanted to hold his hand instead of her son and although she was glad that her eldest was the rock in which she anchored herself too it was still not enough.

"That's because Kyuubi left Sasuke a little present. It was most definitely the reason for that black dome a witness mentioned in his report to me. It's because he wanted to leave that bite mark right there without anyone interrupting the sealing process," he continued to explain with a heavy sigh. Iruka could already feel a headache starting up but he pushed that to the side to sip once more at his tea.

"Right where? I don't see any bite mar—" Itachi began, looking at the pale expanse of Sasuke's skin. He didn't see any noticeable markings that weren't already there but just as he was prepared to deny Iruka's words he remembered seeing the markings that flickered across his Otouto's face and arm when Kyuubi took over. 'Could that have been…' he trailed off in thought, trying to find out where the marking had suddenly gone.

"It is right here," Kisame suggested before pressing his fingers gently down against a smooth patch of unmarred skin that made the boy shiver violently. When he removed his digits the three tomoe markings with the circle of intricate lines flared into existence, reacting to Kisame's demon aura. It glowed a faint red-orange before fading into a black color tone.

"It's called 'The Demon's Proposal'," Iruka inserted in the silence that prevailed the revelation of the mark. If he hadn't seen such affects to his own person then he too would have stared at the sudden appearance of the marking but since he had, he also felt it prudent to push on.

"D… demon's proposal?" both Mikoto and Itachi said at the same time. They paused to look at each other, startled to say the words simultaneously before focusing their stormy grey eyes back on the brunette.

"Yes, well it's very useful but is a double aged sword as seals go. I'd advice you'd use your Uchiha influence to get that demon back immediately," Iruka said in all seriousness. They didn't fully understand the mark or the repercussion that were slowly being realized the longer they kept Sasuke away from the blonde haired demon.

"But didn't he kill your brother," Itachi couldn't help but point out. His brows furrowed in displeasure at the thought of letting his precious brother anywhere near someone who was capable of killing such a powerful Summoner as Minato. It was because compared to that the kid that slept obliviously in his arm would stand a snowball's chance in hell against his demon.

"I… thank you for your concern but if Sasuke isn't near Kyuubi until the effects of the mark wears off then things will get a lot more serious. Like I said before Sasuke is going through withdrawal because currently your brother is addicted to Kyuubi. His body craves his closeness to the point that he will find himself unable to think clearly or function properly without his demon around. For the first few weeks… yes sorry, for the first few weeks Sasuke will want to touch and be touched by Kyuubi. It doesn't have to be in a sexual sense but he'll probably want to sleep in the same bed as the blonde, maybe hold hands so he can feel the reassurance of his presence. Little things like that," Iruka began as he tried to remember how he felt when first affected with the condition.

"Little things? That doesn't really sound like little things? Sasuke is still at an age where he thinks that girls are icky and troublesome," Itachi pointed out. He didn't deem it necessary to add that he still found the loathsome creatures of the fairer sex icky and troublesome, well except his mother.

"Yes, I… he's too young to be this infatuated by someone. Maybe if it was something like puppy love I could possibly—" Mikoto began hopefully as she wrung her hands together. She was very put out by the situation and wanted desperately to have things go back to how they were before the summoning ceremony started.

"It's not that simple Mrs. Uchiha. The Demon's Proposal is almost a demon's equivalent to an actual marriage proposal. They may not be able to reproduce but they can decide to end their long lives by tying their lives to the person they bite. If Sasuke, god forbids, dies… Kyuubi will die instead of being sent back to the demon realm. The same goes for Sasuke unfortunately. If Kyuubi were to die then the strong bond that they now share will drag the child down to the point where he wants to die himself. It can happen quickly or slowly but… it will happen. There are rare cases when someone who is bonded like that has survived without their other half and even if they did survive they appeared to remain in a vegetative state," Iruka said severely interrupting Mikoto's protests in a no-nonsense way.

"I'm still trying to find the upside in this situation," Itachi admitted bitterly after a few seconds. He saw the look of regret that washed over the brunette's face when he crushed his mother's hopes for escape but he brushed that aside for his own concerns.

"Well the benefit of having a demon mark you is that it's like seeing color for the first time. Everything takes on a whole new meaning. Your senses are ten times sharper and your mind is so much clearer when your demon is nearby just as it dulls to fuzzy incoherent thoughts when he is away. Your Guardian wants to fight for you not because you order him to or because it violates his contract but because it physically hurts him to see you in such pain," Iruka began breathlessly even as he unconsciously snuggled closer to Kakashi.

He didn't mind the silver haired demon lacing his fingers with his own as he continued to explain himself dreamily as if in a trance of their first time as bonded partners. "There is nothing he won't do for that child right now. Not death or sickness nor even the people who stand to separate them will tear them apart. It's as ironclad as any contract can get with no leeway or wiggle room for any expert lawyer to access. If you don't give that child to him he'll get him one way or another if what you say is true. Being bonded is such a beautiful and terrifying thing that cannot be entered into lightly. You appreciate and empathize with each other more, want to be closer, want to share everything including the pain Kyuubi felt when he was tortured. Sasuke-kun must have wanted to relieve his Guardian or at least share in that pain no matter his size or age.

"Kyuubi will want to share his strength and protect Sasuke's weakness. He'll strive to make that child stronger in ways that he would never be without that bond so if you want to do what's best for him, what's right, then you'll take him to him soon. Sasuke is now his attended whether you like it or not and there is nothing you can do about it!" The headmaster finished his lecture finally with a heartfelt flourish and another grateful sip of his tea to ease the pain of his sore throat. He appreciated the comforting nuzzling of Kakashi's nose against his nape, calming down his impassioned words so that he was more lax and manageable.

"Nothing? So if I don't find a way to release Naruto…" Itachi trailed off suggestively only to reconfirm his worse fears.

"You might just break Sasuke-kun if you don't," Iruka said with no embellishment. It was important for them to know there was no way around it no matter what angle they looked at things. Kyuubi had won as soon as teeth met skin and now nothing but death, maybe not even death, could part them.

"H… how do you kn… know so much, i… if you don't mind me a… asking?" Mikoto asked in a quivering voice. She looked so pale and felt so weak after everything was revealed that she was afraid she might have to fish in her purse for her stupid smelling salts to revive her.

"Because Kakashi has marked me," Iruka said calmly enough. He lifted up his pajama top only to feel Kakashi place their laced fingers against the place where his heart resided. "He has marked my heart a long time ago. I won't regret what he has done because it has saved me in the end. I think I would have truly gone insane without Kakashi reminding me that I still had something to live for. And I know this might seem bad, but maybe… just maybe this could be his blessing too," the brunette breathed out sincerely.

He knew that this was one of the worse possible news that they could have possibly found out about short of Kyuubi outright killing Sasuke in the summoning ceremony. It was going to be an uphill battle from here convincing the council to let a suspected murderer go free but it was necessary. Everything was necessary so that the small Uchiha's story could continue uninterrupted.

To be continued…

(1) – Remember being 'named' during a summoning ceremony restarts the button on a demon's life so he's in a sense reincarnated and cannot remember his past life.

(2) – Again… this is not going to be any Uchihacest… he just has a big brother complex and feels jilted that his little brother didn't call his name out for help. I'd probably feel that way too. (

3)- Okay this chant I actually got off of Grey's Anatomy. I like watching the show even if Christina and Berke have broken up. But anyway… the pediatrician surgeon, Dr. Arizona and the patient's mother said this over this sick black kid to reassure him when he had nightmares. It was so freaking sad yet cute because it wasn't dying he was afraid of because his mother said it was like falling asleep but it was the fear of getting a nightmare afterwards. So… the chant usually used to circle abdomen and chest area with two hands but Itachi was holding Sasuke with one.

(4) – Well… Remember the scene at the Valley of the End and Orochimaru's curse seal was activated and crawled over Sasuke's face and down his arm… well it's sort of like that. But it's because of reaction to a sexy demon, not a lecherous snake like Oreo-sama who wants to remain young and beautiful.

(5) – This last sentence is the same line used twice in my other new story 'Blood, Sex and Fairytales'. I know it's a shameful plug but it fit and I really want people to read it

A/N: Gah, I thought I'd never be able to get this chapter out of my head and then when I did I realized I'd have to split it in half because the situation began to bloom into something bigger than one chapter would be able to handle. I mean really Anko going all dominatrix on Naruto via Ibiki and then the whole possession and explaining of the marking toppled with everything else… meh… this is one hell of a day ne? But it's not over, not by a long shot and I hope not just Ivvy Moon but everyone else enjoys this fic.


	4. Never Reunite with a Demon

Hello this is Hopless Blue Kiss here and I wanted to glomp all those who have thought my story worthy despite the title and summary. I hope this story becomes successful and popular on otherwise… hmm… we'll see by Chapter 5. Anyway, I know it's a strange thing but I like it so MEH to all the doubters. Tremble for I am grateful to the ones who thought my story worthy enough to review. I am so beholding the love you gave me with the comments that I will now perform seppuku on myself with this piece of yarn because I hate pain but I think I still owe you guys' blood for forgetting to update this yesterday. *laughs at the thought of being a die-hard writer*

Keep in mind though guys that me dying by yarn will lead to a ticking sensation and possible yarn burn. So love me and forgive me with this long, heartfelt update that's actual content is 30 pages long without A/Ns. That's like two chapters in one kiddies so please love me again, read this story, rate and most especially review so that my apologies don't go to waste v.v

Demons Have The Most Fun: A Cautionary Tale

'And I don't know/  
This could break my heart or save me/  
Nothing's real/  
Until you let go completely/  
So here I go with all my thoughts I've been saving /  
So here I go with all my fears weighing on me.'

~Sober by Kelly Clarkson

/Recap/

"H… how do you kn… know so much, i… if you don't mind me a… asking?" Mikoto asked in a quivering voice. She looked so pale and felt so weak after everything was revealed that she was afraid she might have to fish in her purse for her stupid smelling salts to revive her.

"Because Kakashi has marked me," Iruka said calmly enough. He lifted up his pajama top only to feel Kakashi place their laced fingers against the place where his heart resided. "He has marked my heart a long time ago. I won't regret what he has done because it has saved me in the end. I think I would have truly gone insane without Kakashi reminding me that I still had something to live for. And I know this might seem bad, but maybe… just maybe this could be his blessing too," the brunette breathed out sincerely.

He knew that this was one of the worse possible news that they could have possibly found out about short of Kyuubi outright killing Sasuke in the summoning ceremony. It was going to be an uphill battle from here convincing the council to let a suspected murderer go free but it was necessary. Everything was necessary so that the small Uchiha's story could continue uninterrupted.

Chapter Three: Never Reunite with a Demon

It was only when the headmaster of the prestigious academy school had finished with his impromptu, yet hopefully awe-inspiring, speech that he felt the unnerving urge to squirm in his seat. The buoyant, yet fragile, smile that had blossomed on his lips at the thought of the precious bond that he shared with Kakashi had quickly withered under the gaze of three pairs of eyes.

One lovely set, a few shades darker than dove gray, seemed to look right through him as they slowly shimmered with unshed tears. Petal soft lips, painted a demure shade of red, quivered at the information being processed even as a slender, elegant hand blindly reached for her son's to grasp. The watery droplets all the while clung to her thick lashes but she tilted her chin up proudly and stubbornly, determined not to let this break her.

Another set, that was now a lovely stormy gray from suppressed rage, seemed to skewer the self-righteous brunette for what appeared to be a lifetime but was in reality a good minute or two. Words were just not adequate enough to express the anger and frustration he felt for the man in front of him laying this all on their laps. Then before it looked like he would voice his disapproval anyway in short, clip words, he felt his gaze shifting over to his mother as her hand brushed his own. His gaze softened slightly for the woman, grasping the trembling digits that reached blindly out for his own. He gave them a reassuring squeeze before he offered his distraught mother a wan smile of comfort.

All the while that this was going on the third set, a soulless black, seemed to gaze at the headmaster with the same steadfast, unwavering look he had given him and his demon throughout the entire meeting. Those last pair of eyes absorbed everything and let nothing show on his handsome, Mediterranean features until he volunteered to break the tentative silence.

"Excuse me Iruka-sama. May I ask you a question or two? I will understand if you are not up to it but I'm a bit confused," Kisame began diplomatically in his rumbling, liquid voice. For a moment it sounded like the rippling smoothness of a mature stream was talking to the brunette and not the imposing Guardianstanding behind his human charges.

"N... no, of course not. F… Feel absolutely free to… to… speak." Iruka stumbled the words out as if he were just waking up from a spell that the three gazes had cast him under. He looked at his audience warily, wondering if he shouldn't have just called the deputy headmistress and headmaster like Kakashi had suggested instead of taking it all on his already tired shoulders.

"Before I ask my question, let me first tell you that I have no family. I know it's an unusual declaration but when I was born or created or whatever you may call it I was alone in a world full of chaos. I had to fend for myself… depend on myself. I had no one to care for or anyone to care for me and it felt like a yawning, bleeding gap in my heart. This want I had, to belong in something I didn't quite understand or know yet." Kisame said this calmly as if he was discussing the weather instead of such a sensitive, personal matter.

It was no real mystery that demons were brought into the world with no family to call their own; but the way Kisame spoke in such a frank yet refreshingly urgent undertone, it made it seem like his audience was privy to some private, intimate secret that only pertained to him. He could even sense the shell-shocked Uchihas shifting slightly in their chairs to see their steadfast companion; the same demon who had not, until this very day, spoken of anything about his life before he met the Uchiha family, including the 'existence' or 'want' of a family.

"A demon never is born with a family but these people right here… These people, who you have shaken to the core of their very beings with your thoughtless words, are my family. They took me in when I had nothingand only ask of me my loyalty, servitude and a little of my time," he said fervently, his eyes momentarily blazing with life.

"I think it's a small price to pay for happiness." He murmured this last part sincerely with the slightest of smiles, allowing himself to calm down a bit. The smile in turn revealed the appearance of deep grooves in his caramel cheeks as dimples made their appearance.

"Kisame I… I never knew that…" Mikoto began but failed to continue. The petite woman had not questioned up to this point whether or not Kisame belonged to their family or not. She felt that he more followed her and carried on with her because he actually cared for her and not just for duties' sake like the other servants. The Uchiha mother gave him an actual choice to accompany her or not because she thought of him as more than just a demon or servant. In fact the matronly woman had accepted him into her fold as if he were her own doting son.

'Now you know little Magpie,' he thought but didn't say as much. He only spared her a fond glance and a hint of another smile before he laid his now soulless eyes back on Iruka and Kakashi, all warmth now gone.

"Your recklessness is destroying their happiness and when you do that than you destroy mine." He said this coldly, bitterly, even as he narrowed his onyx orbs. "What right do you have to lecture us to free this 'Kyuubi person' when you were the one who allowed your Guardianto put him in chains and drained him of his spiritual energy so he couldn't defend himself in the first place? You are more than a constant contradiction with your praising the demonic bond in the same breath that you are cursing the blonde," he continued with a disappointed sigh and a shake of his dark head in his irritation.

"…"

"I mean if you didn't let the interrogators in the school, then who did? And if you had one iota of doubt that what you saw could have possibly been the demon mark instead of a fevered conjured image then why didn't you inform us? Why rely on the excuse of hatred, fatigue and sickness when it could have very much endanger and destroy the life of an innocent? Or do you care so little for Sasuke-kun now that he's associated with thatdemon," he spat out venomously, his outrage more than a little justified. His fingers itched for his Samehada now as his cool, collected temperament disappeared, but he refrained when his attention was distracted by Mrs. Uchiha.

Mikoto patted the clenched fist that came to rest on the top of her ornamented chair as he fought for them. She wanted to say so much to him for saying the words she was afraid would break her if she forced them past her own lips. They needed to be said and she was more than proud that their champion, her surrogate son, was saying this in her place even as her pale cheeks flushed and her eyes continued to shine with unshed tears and so much emotion.

"Th… that's not what I meant. I never ever meant to… to leave Sasuke-kun in such a p… predicament. You have to… I'd never… please don't d… doubt my intentions I… I was only trying to h… help alleviate the…" Iruka quickly sputtered out, his cheeks flushed with something more than just fever. He was trembling on the spot, shaken by the accusations that were quickly flung in his face after he tried to help them. Confusion, frustration, guilt and the need to be understood all wreaked havoc on his head so that his cranium now fairly pulsed with the raging emotions and newly processed information.

"Alleviate the situation you say? It's more like you intensified it by making it worse." Itachi said this dryly in his bemusement while shaking his head in his disapproval. "My Guardianis right. What right do you have to—" began the elder Uchiha sibling. He was ready to dig into the poor headmaster now before the person behind Iruka cut him off.

"Mah, excuse me if I sound insensitive. Don't really care if I do butif someone were to kill this lovely lady right here, Mikoto, right? Well she seems very close to the both of you and if she was to suddenly be murdered and the killer somehow escaped and returned a few years later unable to remember he killed her… wouldn't your anger and need for justice resurface just as he resurfaced?" Kakashi said nonchalantly, hushing his owner into silence as the brunette tried to scold him for being so rude and blasé about the matter. The demon instead speared the three guests with a thoughtful yet calculating look with his one visible eye even as he drew his Summoner's body closer to his own, to help stop his trembling.

He knew that he was overstepping the lines by suggesting such a scenario but he was going for the shock factor right now. Kakashi was displeased by the fact that the kindhearted man in his arms was trembling so violently like a leaf in a vicious autumn wind because his words of encouragement were being misinterpreted and thrown back at him. The intelligent, silver haired demon could even feel the strong-willed man shrinking against him, making himself smaller even as he continued to take in and focus on the abusive words.

Kakashi would be damned if he would just sit back and let him take it.

There was a moment of oppressing silence after those words from Kakashi before Itachi shot to his feet, his heart thudding harshly in his ears; his grip on his Otouto tightened reflexively as he glared with hate-filled eyes down at the demon that would dare say something like that to him. He was an Uchiha, a prodigy, an heir to a powerful company. He had every right to lay blame on anyone who he felt deserved it and the both of them did for allowing all this to happen to Sasuke in the first place.

Itachi felt so unbelievably helpless and useless against the news thrust at him that he was infuriated. He wanted to protect his brother. But how could he when he was getting the information to, too late in the game to be of use?

He wanted his Otouto to wake up and reassure him that he was worrying too much. But he knew that, in reality, the only time the poor child in his arms had woken up since they had left the school that day was when he was possessed by the sadistic demon; so it didn't count. Add to that the fact that this all stemmed from a mark that the brunette had missed because of anger and sickness and it all boiled down to one unhappy, vengeful Uchiha.

"Don't you dare put my mother into such a situation!" Itachi spat out, his ivory face flushed a hot pink. "I don't care if it's hypothetical or not. I don't care if Kisame hurt your precious master's feelings because he needs the reality check. She, on the other hand, did nothing to your preciousMaster so just… just keep her out of this!" he ground out the last words before he licked his lips and tried to continue with a more steady, 'Uchiha controlled' tone. "Besides, it's not the same. It's been ten years, so he should be able to forgive what…" Itachi reasoned bitterly before trailing off.

He could already sense Kisame conjuring up his sword Samehada from thin air; probably because he was unable to take his master's distress no longer. The Uchiha's lips almost twitched upwards into a smile at the eagerness of his Guardianto exact vengeance in order to protect his Uchiha honor, Sasuke and his family. He knew the obedient Kisame had yet to attack yet because Itachi had not given him the nod of approval and though the young teen was sorely tempted he felt it prudent not to physically harm the people who seemed to have all the answers to questions yet to be solved.

Slowly he sat back in his chair again with renewed confidence thanks to Kisame. He waved his Guardian, after he was properly seated, to lower his blade though looked over his shoulder to give him a silent, meaningful look to still be at the ready. Itachi then tried his best to devoid his face of any hindering emotions such as fear and anxiety before looking at the pair in front of him with a warier eye.

He still did not like the demon putting his mother in any scenario that involved her unfortunate demise but he refused, like his mother, to show how it affected him. It was a crass and insensitive way to prove a point and he wanted to let the silver haired man know that not only was he displeased but that he'd have both their jobs when Kakashi interrupted him yet again from trying to speak once more.

"Oh is it really?" Kakashi asked this time in bemusement. The demon didn't miss a beat after the Summoner and his Guardianhad settled down; his visible eye even rounded out in fiend surprise. "You say that. You sound as if you really meant it, that you would be able to forgive your murderer, but let's not kid ourselves. Nothing in life ever really comes out so neatly wrapped and packaged; and sure we could have handled it a bit better on our side but there is really no use in pointing fingers. Ten years can easily melt down to ten seconds when suddenly struck in the face with your past. The aching, festering wound that was slowly healing at the lost of someone you hold so close can just as easily tear open at the presence of the one that turned your life upside down in the first place." The silver haired male began brightly, his words laden with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

"…"

"Oh, I know, you might be thinking right now 'well it's not the same because it's your actualmother that was killed in this 'hypothetical scenario'," the demon made a point to add the air quotations carelessly before continuing seamlessly on, "…and not some guy who adopted Iruka out of the kindness of his heart'. You probably might think that it's different because they aren't blood related, hmm? Was that it?" Kakashi said in a mocking tone, his clothed lips curled up in a bittersweet smile even as he leaned forward a bit as if he attended to chat with a good, old friend.

Itachi wanted to open his mouth in protest but found himself gently shushed by his mother who couldn't help but wonder what the nonchalant demon would say next. In fact all occupants in the room, including Iruka himself, were curious to see what the masked man would say or do next. It was like looking at a car crash. They wanted to look away, they wanted to snap out of the gruesome spell but they couldn't help but watch and listen as the man behind Iruka upbraided them.

"Sssuuuurrrreeee, every situation of murder is different but he's already lost his biological parents to demons. Saw them slaughtered right in front of his eyes because they hungered for the spiritual potency inside of him. Yet, in spite of all of his faults he still has managed to do so much good. He cared for me, an exceptionally hot demon, despite two separate demon related murders. He's managed to establish and take care of a school that specializes in not only educating the youth but teaching potential Summoners and their demons how to work together. Finally he was more than willing to come to your aide as sick as he is.

"So Kami, forbidit if he should hold a grudge against a single person, who he can actually and justifiably use as a scapegoat for all the fucked up things that have been going on in his life. Even if there is a chance Kyuubi didn't kill Minato he sure as hell didn't prevent him from being killed. He just as well have stolen away someone Iruka was starting to love just like an actual brother. But then again it's not the same," Kakashi snapped flinging Itachi's words back in his face before standing up abruptly with Iruka in his arms this time.

"As for the chaining him up thing, I felt that it was prudent. You might not mind a suspected killer running around your home when there are innocents asleep but we run things differently here. We have children here, left in our care by their parents, to think about. And you say that my Iruka is being emotionally biased but here you are relying on your emotions when it comes to protecting your mother and brother. The same with you wanting to protect your 'family' Kisame-kun," Kakashi continued, drawing Kisame back into the conversation. "So don't go pointing fingers when you're really upset at the fact that I beat you.

"If you want our help I'll give it to you but I'm not going to let you break what is mine because you find you can't always get what you want. He's feels bad enough that he missed such a crucial clue so don't push it," the older demon said with a final flourish of his rant.

"I don't want him to come down with us," Itachi said sullenly after the eternity of dead silence that followed. He knew that he had been thoroughly chastised, to the point that he couldn't look at the man that he silently made a vow to destroy. There was definite trueness in the silver haired scarecrows words and if he hadn't been guided by the strong need to protect and lighten the burden of his family then he would have seen that as well. Itachi hadn't had all the facts before which led to his frustration but even if he did he'd be damned if he would apologize to either man.

"I… I won't. I feel a bit lightheaded anyway," Iruka began a bit hesitantly. He gave his own demon a look that begged him to hold his tongue for a moment even as he made his move to stand on his own. "I think I will retire to my room," Iruka confessed with a halfhearted chuckle. His feet were almost to the ground, his hands prepared to grasp the edge of the table for support when he felt Kakashi draw him closer.

'Don't go… don't let them break you.'

The words were soft, but Iruka could hear his demon's words clearly in his head. It was one of the many benefits of being 'bonded' that they were able to communicate sensitive material in front of their adversaries without appearing weak before them.

Iruka hesitated, shook his head, and then turned with some difficulty in the arms that were wrapped securely around him. He offered his mate a sweet, yet tired smile as he reached a trembling hand out to touch his clothed cheek.

'Don't worry about me koi. I really am sleepy. Go attend to them and I'll be fine. That child needs you more than I do right now.'

The thoughtful words brushed against Kakashi's psyche just as softly as the butterfly kiss that Iruka laid on his chin before he was reluctantly released by his brunette. Another tiny smile was offered for his efforts before he turned back and tucked a lock of chocolate brown behind his ear and offered them all a warm, understanding look that belied the turmoil inside of him right now.

"It's obvious that given the hour and circumstances that all four of you would be reluctant to leave the school at this time without Kyuubi. I will have one of the school's servants contact a staff member at the Uchiha manor to send over a carryover bag with sleeping clothes for tonight and clothes to wear for tomorrow," Iruka began, all businesslike before wetting his lips and continuing.

"I will also inform a school servant to prepare some guests rooms for you as well as leave a message at Uchiha-sama's office that there has been a family emergency and he should return to the Academy at his earliest convenience. I will be sure to have his clothes brought over too just in case he does arrive. And if you find yourself for want of anything or need to ask any more questions please feel free to contact my guardian or ask for assistance from one of the school's servants. If that will be all then I will bid you all adieu."

There was warmth infused in those words but it was obvious to all that the man before them was working on autopilot. Iruka seemed to look right through the people he was addressing. His fingers clenched into fists on top of the desk before they finally relaxed as he finished. He nodded to affirm his words, giving them a starched smile of politeness before following it up with a short, cordial bow and headed towards Mikoto.

"And Mikoto-san… Please accept my apologies for my Guardian'sharsh words. I am glad that he defended me but Itachi-san was also right. He shouldn't have dragged you into his example to prove his point," Iruka began civilly.

He then skewered Kakashi with a pointed look in which he only received a sheepish shrug in return to his great amusement. "Also…" he continued focusing his gaze and attention back on Mikoto, "I really do hope for not only your sake but for your son's own that I was wrong about Kyuubi. I know we wish we could live in a perfect world where we could possibly forgive and forget past indiscretions but we know better than that. Good night." Another simple incline of his head and he was gone through the door before anyone else could say anything else.

Mikoto could only stare in bewilderment as first the brunette left before his Guardianfollowed quickly on his heels.

OUTSIDE THE OFFICE

Kakashi was surprised at how quickly Iruka was moving in his state but caught up with his master before the stumbling man could fall from his emotional exertion. He knew that for all Iruka's brave words, the kindhearted man was dying inside. He was the type of person who would worry himself sick. He'd keep all the negative comments directed at himself bottled up, and smile sweetly in return even as the words ate him up inside.

Kakashi had thought he had broken his master out of that habit so that he would be more willing to speak his mind instead of keeping things in. The brunette sure seemed to strike fear into the hearts of his students and others when he was scolding them and could make a majority of his staff members scatter when he was in a foul mood. But he guessed when it came to sensitive matters like his deceased brother and his past in general; Iruka was once again reduced to the little orphan boy from long ago.

While still walking Kakashi smoothly swept his distraught master into his arms and carried him upstairs with barely a protest. He knew that Iruka knew that it was useless to fight him when he was determined to play the hero. Heck, if things hadn't gone to hell in a hand basket he wouldn't have minded playing 'fireman and helpless, lonely, and oh so sexy fire victim'. He even bought a small ax and a fire hose, not that he didn't already come specially equipped for the job as he allowed his mind to roam to the last time they played dress up.

"Your mind is in the gutter isn't it?" Iruka accused dryly after a few breathless seconds in which his Guardianquickly carried him up the stairs as if on an urgent mission. The brunette couldn't believe that even after all that had happened Kakashi was still horny. Sure it had been more than a week since they last had sex but the headmaster had more pressing things to worry about back then besides making 'little Kakashi' happy.

"Nooooo, of course not," Kakashi quickly shook his head in denial interrupting his master's musings. Although it seemed very hard for him to put on a face of innocence when his brunette looked so ravishing and helpless. Plus they were moving to the bedroom and cuddling didn't cut it for him. Sure it was nice in its own respect when used after enjoying the afterglow of lovemaking but when there was no sex involved it was less than filling.

The headmaster snorted slightly at his denial, calmed slightly by his demon "Is it really wrong that I can't quite forgive him yet?" Iruka asked breathlessly, blinking back the tears that burned at the back of his eyes. His fingers instinctively dug into cloth and flesh as he tried to stop himself from letting the water droplets fall because he knew once they did they wouldn't stop for a good while.

"Of course not, he's your brother. Blood doesn't matter. He's yours just as much as you're mines," his demon said soothingly, tucking his master's head under his chin. He was at the top of the stairs in record time when Iruka decided to continue.

"I want to though… I want to forgive him because there is a small chance that h… he's not the killer but… but… if he isn't than… than why…" the headmaster whimpered, feeling the first tear tickle down his cheek and throat.

"Shhh… I know. I know what you are going to say. Why didn't he protect Minato from the real killer then, hmm? It's almost just as bad as being the killer himself, so why? I'm sure that everyone would like to know that, not just us. But not now, right now you have to rest," Kakashi murmured in a coaxing voice.

"I never meant to hate him Kashi… you have to understand I respected him once," Iruka continued sleepily as if unable to hear what Kakashi had just said. He didn't realize that his Guardianhad already opened his bedroom door and was laying him down on the bed until he felt Kakashi removing his warm body from his own. Desperately he grabbed for his sleeve after he was tucked in, only receiving a gentle and understanding look in turn.

"I know you did Koi." The silver haired male nodded his head in agreement, slowly prying his human's hand from his shirt before drawing his mask down to kiss his brow.

"He's been named but I can't stop seeing him. He's been named but I can't stop picturing him holding Aniki with all that blood covering them. I thought I successfully blocked out that memory so why… why do I?" he whimpered out desperately. His eyes were slightly glazed over as if he was already replaying the memory again.

"Shh… Be at peace and forget him for now," murmured Kakashi coaxingly. He put a little power behind his words in order to ease the worried, panic look that seem to crease his brunette's features.

"Peace? That would be nice… I… I'll try for you. Try for the both of us to forget him tonight," Iruka reaffirmed at the end, giving his head a slight nod of acceptance before yawning.

"I can stay if you really want me to," suggested Kakashi as an afterthought. He had no real qualms about abandoning the Uchihas to their own devises why he attended to his upset and still sick master. Besides he looked so vulnerable and fuckable right now with those flush cheeks and big watering eyes that he was already starting to unbutton his shirt when Iruka halted him with his words.

"No…. go. I'm good. Attend to them and then come back to me. I'll keep until then," he murmured. If he was in a better mood then Iruka might have taken more than just simple amusement in denying his Guardianhis touch. For the brunette, the look of hurt and the look of all consuming hunger on his Kashi's face thrilled him to his very core despite the sadness and regret that lapped greedily at his own heart and soul. It brought out a sadistic streak in the brunette that left him lightheaded and breathless. But seeing that they both suffered enough already in that day alone, he allowed his demon a small allowance and sat up a bit to draw him into a kiss.

Strong, slender arms coiled around his Guardian'sneck drawing the demon closer to him even as he arched his body up a bit to remove the space between them. He brushed his lips teasingly across Kakashi's own; it was an innocent yet barely there kiss that drew a frustrated growl from Kakashi. He chuckled softly to himself, smiling at the display of sharp teeth shown in anger through heavy lids. He was mesmerized by them, pausing to really look at the fanged teeth before kissing the pretty mouth that housed them again.

His heart quickened, starting to pulse in his ears, knowing that part of him would always be a bit afraid of his Guardian. But the spike of fear only thrilled him more as Kakashi returned his kiss just as tenderly instead of the biting, bruising kiss that he was half expecting. He looked curiously at his demon, wondering if he had read the man wrong but the heated gaze that was zeroed in on him made him almost forget to breathe.

Iruka knew now, always seemed to know on some level, that his demon always hungered for more behind his carefree mask of indifference. Kakashi was his Guardianbut he was still a primal and dark being and his want was ultimately Iruka's want. But they silently agreed as one to draw apart. Iruka wanted to rest his forehead against Kakashi's until he could calm his beating heart but found his lover now holding him at arm's length.

"Don't test me Koi," the bi-colored male hissed in warning. He winced at the wounded puppy dog look that his master gave him, pulling him close to his frame when his Iruka would have pulled further away. "And don't give me that look either. You know I can't think properly when you are this close to me," he confessed huskily while hugging the brunette closer to him. "You need your rest so you can be prepared for when I finally pound into that tight ass of yours."

"Wha—" Iruka began in his bewilderment; his cheeks flushed a flaming red.

"You owe me Koi," the demon breathed out fervently even as he rested his forehead against Iruka's shoulder. "Kami, this Cold War you have going on in the bedroom since this recent sickness has given me the worst case of blue balls. 'Little Kakashi' misses you, you know that?" he murmured with a tired chuckle.

Iruka snorted and kissed the top of his lover's head. "You're impossible. It's my fault, hmm? I spoil you too much, that's what it really boils down to. I realize it now that I don't have time to give you my complete attention like I used to because of the pressing issues of work. But I am still your Master. I get to decide if you top or not and if I want to deny 'Little Kakashi' then… Well I don't want to do that because then we both suffer," corrected Iruka reluctantly blocking Kakashi's sudden blossoming grin with his hand.

"Shut up! I… there's just too much going on right now. Rain check for now, okay? Go downstairs and attend to the Uchihas' and we'll see what happens when you return," suggested the brunette finally in defeat.

"That's all I'm asking Koi," Kakashi said jovially with a crooked, impish smile. He removed the hand that nearly muffled his words before brushing a kiss against his fingertips and releasing them with a playful nip in parting. "I want you lubed up and ready when I return. I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail," he crowed out happily even as he quickly stood and drew up his mask over his lips and nose.

"What happened to you saying 'I needed my rest?'" demanded Iruka in exasperation. His eyebrow suddenly twitched in his irritation even as he smiled ruefully in amusement at the antics of his horny mate.

"We can rest when we are dead." Kakashi countered seriously before his eyes curved into the familiar crescent eyed smile that belied his serious tone. He quickly blew his Master a kiss and ducked out of the door before the frustrated brunette could toss something at his head.

It seemed that as soon as the door clicked close behind his demon Iruka fell bonelessly back against his sheets and closed his eyes. "Kyuubi…" He breathed out that name in a regretful sigh knowing that his overtaxed mind would not easily give up on worrying about that demon when he was so intricately apart of his past.

In fact, Iruka's first memory of Kyuubi was tied with the first memory of Minato and Kakashi. They interlocked and intertwined with each other in such a way that he couldn't tell one side of the story without incorporating the other two in it. It'd be only a half truth if he did it any other way and as always just as Kyuubi had exited the brunette's world with a bang, so did he enter into it too.

FLASHBACK, FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

Blood splattered like a wet, crimson banner across the wall to welcome further intruders into the little hovel that Iruka had called home for more than six years. The tiny, two-room home was in complete disarray, straying completely from its usual tidy self. Their kitchen/dining table, that usually sat a mere foot from the kitchen, was broken in two; the wood coated with the porridge that had barely been touched when the unexpected guests arrived.

A wooden, splintered table leg was mysteriously embedded deeply into the wall and not one wooden chair was spared from harm. One lone cup, that had managed to survive the fall, continued to roll in a lazy, drunken circle. It settled only to find itself spinning out of control again as many feet danced across the floor in a frenzied style only known to themselves.

There was a scuffling and growling noise towards the front of the home but he couldn't really care to pay attention to that right now as the little brunette laid his small, trembling body between his mother and father. The child was tired and done with tears; or at least he thought so after spending a horrific part of the early day cowering in a corner, his eyes brimming and nose running freely with snot and tears.

Slowly the six year old drew the dead weight of first his mother's than his father's arms around his wiry frame before he further snuggled between their still bodies. There was still just enough warmth left between his parents that his shivering had abated some. He allowed his eyes to flutter close then with a soft sigh, his hands pressed their palms against his chest so that they could see that their boy still lived thanks to their sacrifices.

Tears tickled and squeezed out of the corner of his eyes and rolled down either side of his head as he tried to call up the bliss and obliviousness of sleep. Iruka was determined to become a star too, just like his parents. He knew that as soon as they threw themselves in the way of the ravenous demons, their souls fled their bodies instantly and became bright, beautiful stars.

The young adolescent knew that they would shine down on him and protect him from now on but he wanted to shine with them too so they could all three be together again, so shiny and new. So he waited patiently for his death to come, his dead parent's arms wrapped around him to reassure him that everything would be okay.

END FLASHBACK

Iruka snorted at his childish hope even as he moved to slide underneath the covers. When he reminisced just then it was like watching a movie played by someone else for someone else. Sure he felt empathy towards the little one tucked between his two dead parents, waiting for a death that would never come; but he couldn't see himself fitting in that world anymore than he could see himself fitting into his old elementary school clothes. They were memories that had all served their purpose to make him into the man that he was today: a somewhat confidant, calm, kind, and complete control freak of an individual.

It was because of Kyuubi that he became the latter in the first place. He needed desperately to control the environment and the people around him because he knew that most of his past was in such disarray. He lived with a kind of fear, not knowing when another 'Kyuubi' would come into his life and turn his world of order upside down again. And sure his GuardianKakashi had a more dominate nature fit for domming but the demon also knew and understood that the brunette needed to be in control even in the bedroom. So most of the time he initiated their sexual acts, only occasionally letting Kakashi top when he felt the demon needed to be rewarded or when he was too weak of will to stop his horny mate from taking advantage of him.

It was utterly disconcerting that thoughts of Kyuubi could reduce him to a pubescent teen full of hate and anxieties. These thoughts left him absentminded to the happenings of the world around him like the recent 'Sasuke incident'; as well as left him afraid to embrace the memories he tried desperately to bury within a small corner of his heart. But now that his brother's demon was back they all came flooding back in ebbing waves, crashing over him one by one, leaving him breathless, bereft of warmth and purpose and trembling among the bed sheets.

FLASHBACK, AN HOUR OR TWO LATER

He wasn't sure how long he had dozed off but one minute he had closed his eyes and was dreaming of floating weightlessly in the starry sky and the next minute he was hearing voices that would have earn them pennies in the swear jar. Iruka screwed his eyes shut as if willing himself to fall back to sleep in order to push away the niggling feeling that something in the real world was wrong. His brow wrinkled together and lips twitched downward into a frown as he buried his nose against one of his parent's sides. But no matter how hard he grasped in vein at the inky darkness of sleep the people talking were too loud to ignore.

"Minato!" The child stiffened, suddenly alert by the velvety smooth voice that caressed the syllables of that name almost lovingly while still showing its displeasure with its dark and dangerous undertones. It was like dark chocolate, the way it was so bitter and sweet at the same time; it left the child with an almost melting feeling as his mind began to fasten onto the intangible words instantly. "You knew I really wanted to fight someone. Maybe bathe in a bit of blood but I guess we arrived too damn late to the party," the velvety voice continued irritably. "I want my reparations!"

"We didn't come here to fight," countered the long suffering and tired reply of another male. "You know how important finding potential Summoners like me are."

"You promised me souls, blondie." The first voice hissed out in his growing frustration completely ignoring what the other man had said. The words had the small child trying desperately to press further down between his parents in hopes of hiding himself from that hungry, anxious voice. His heart beating merrily along until his head fairly pulsed with the rhythm while the speaker continued. "Do you know the last time I've really eaten without caring the hell what happened to my meal?"He didn't even allow the other man enough time to answer before he threw down his reply in his agitation. "Toodamn long, that's for sure."

"I feed you!" insisted the second voice, trying to hush his voice so that nosy people like the boy wouldn't overhear them.

"But not in the way I want to be fed Minato. I need more than a little nibble here and there. You're a true sadist, you know that? You, of course, are my drug of choice and you know how insatiable I am… could be. But you have denied me too often. You know how I get when I am hungry," he fairly snarled out the last words, not even bothering to hide the sheer volume of his voice.

"You can gorge to your heart's content next time," appeased the 'Minato' person trying to shush his partner.

"FUCK NEXT TIME! IF I DON'T EAT NOW I'LL…"roared out the first voice. Then close on the heels of the declaration the small resident heard something colliding and breaking against the wall that hid the second room from the first. Heart jumping erratically in his chest the child quickly muffled a broken sob against his mother's side, trying desperately not to make any noise even as he began to hyperventilate.

"Kyuubi! Why did you… What is it?"Minato began to scold before he switched to a more concerned and cautious tone.

There seemed to be a yawning pause in which Iruka thought that he would die from the suspense alone when he sobbed a bit harder at the next words.

"I smell human…" Kyuubi said cautiously, precisely as if unsure if said human was in hearing distance.

"Don't you dare eat him!" warned the second voice, once again admonishingly. It almost sounded like the young man was lecturing a four year ready to eat something off the floor instead of an actual human being.

The first person seemed to shift in the other room, if Iruka's overactive imagination was anywhere close to being correct, like he was carefully contemplating his partner's words before replying. "Are you going to sate my craving this time Master?" He bit out the last word bitterly as if he derived no real pleasure in saying it when he was so dissatisfied. "Or should I just take a small bite out of this one now?"

"Don't play around like that," was the only feeble response that the Kyuubi guy received. It seemed as if Minato wanted to believe that his partner was kidding and incapable of doing such crude things. But both he and, not surprisingly, the child believed that the first voice was dead serious.

"Who's playing? My body has been denied too long from enjoying a sweet, succulent soul and you've been too much of a sentimental fool to let me eat your friends," came Kyuubi's careless reply that had more than one person blinking in bewilderment.

" THEY ARE MY FRIENDS!" screeched out the Minato person as something tried to hit something else. The child wondered if the second voice tried to hit the first voice but didn't want to think too hard about it in case he missed anymore words coming from the other room.

Kyuubi snorted. "If you say so but they irritate me… most humans do," he added the last part dryly as an afterthought. He seemed unaffected by any attempts at assault if there was in fact any assault to begin with.

Iruka caught the sound of the other male letting out yet another long suffering sigh as if he had had that same conversation again and again. He had been waiting for a snarky remark from the other voice at any minute with bated breath when he had this suddenly irksome feeling that someone was staring down at him. The child quickly shook his head to himself, not thinking it possible because he would have heard but even as he lifted his tear-stained face to set his fears to rest, he nearly choked on air as he stared into calculating golden eyes.

"Well now isn't this interesting," said the stranger in front of him.

Instantly the child took in the sight of the handsome stranger, despite himself. He wondered where in the world he came from because he seemed obviously not to fit in this shabby place. He stood there, tall, lean and brooding with one hip leaning against the doorframe and his arms crossed thoughtfully across his chest. Those eyes, he hadn't mistaken them, they were piercing amber orbs wrapped in a thin band of scarlet. They hid behind heavy lidded eyelids that observed him intently without seeming too concern with the weird sight of a small child lying between his two dead parents.

His hair… his hair was cropped short and formed a sort of blazing halo of soft red spikes frosted in gold. (1) Sinful lips turned down in a frown, he seemed ethereal even with goggles on his head and the worn flight jacket that seemed just as worn as his ripped black denim jeans.

The child managed to take in the man's appearance with big doe brown eyes just as quickly as he identified the voice as the first one that wanted to eat him. It was disconcerting to say the least, especially when the child thought that the man in front of him looked at him as if sizing up if he was worth the trouble eating. Or that was what the impressionable child had thought as he quaked between his dead parents, face crumpling into despair as he began to let out soft, hiccupping sobs. He tried to quell the annoying noise when he saw the man's lip curl back in irritation but not even pressing trembling fingertips could stop the tears that blurred his vision and rolled down his cheeks.

"Stop that! You're frightening the poor thing," came the disapproving second voice. All Iruka could see was a yellow, black and blue blob that quickly scooping up the child before he could offer a protest.

The man began to automatically bounce the child in his arms, making soft cooing noises even as he simultaneously glared at his partner over the brunette's head. Or at least the latter was what the child was hoping he was doing as he tried taking shuddering, hiccupping breath after another. Hands fisting in a black t-shirt as he tried to gather his bearings knowing even to a child like him it was useless to say that everything would be okay because the evidence of that not being possible lay at their feet in the form of the child's dead parents.

"Kami, I wished we would have come here sooner. Poor thing to lose his parents like that, it should have never happened." The melodious voice above him muttered the words softly to himself, although Iruka could feel the vibration of those words tickling against his ear as he pressed his wet cheek against the man's chest. The child closed his eyes hoping that this was just some horrible dream and that he would wake up any moment to bounce onto his parents' bed and beg them to serve something other than porridge.

But the once comforting arms around his midsection were tightening around him so that he squeaked out in surprise. Blunt nails quickly dug in between himself and the strange male wanting none of this abuse only for the man to suddenly loosen his grip. He looked up reproachfully into an apologetic face that left him breathless as he stared into the clearest blue eyes he had ever seen. Any reproachful words were quickly dried up on his tongue as he ducked his head bashfully under the blonde man's chin.

"Me and you both," grumbled Kyuubi seemingly unaware of the other two's shy assessment of each other.

It seemed clear to the child and the man that was holding him that it was obvious Kyuubi agreed more over the lost fight he missed by being late instead of the lost lives in front of them. Iruka knew that the man didn't know his parents. That he didn't know how loving and caring and precious they were to him. But his self-absorbed manner made the child want to instantly hate the red head if only for the fact that the man had honestly contemplated eating him plus his utter disregard for his dead family.

"But I'm more than sure…" began the red head before the blonde could scold him, "That this child wouldn't be alive without help. So who was it? I'm pretty sure these humans weren't capable of killing all those demon bodies we saw in the front, so how—" He breathed out more so to himself before something stopped him from continuing in his speculation.

"Drop him or I'll slit both of your throats." The voice was cold and serious as a tall man spattered in flecks of blood and gore suddenly separated himself from the pocket of darkness he had been hiding in. Mismatched eyes, one stormy blue and the other blood red, narrowed at the intruders that dared touch what was his through the silver curtain of wild, unkempt bangs that threatened to obscure his vision. He saw the human child craning his head backward to take a look at the newcomer before sighing in defeat when the frightened boy tried desperately to draw closer to the blonde as if hoping he would melt into him by some miracle.

"Ha, ha this is too rich!" Kyuubi suddenly laughed out loud into the silence of the stranger's threatening words. The demon wiped away invisible tears, handsome head shaking in his bemusement. "Drop him or I'll slit both of your throats. Rich, you are a fucking funny demon because if you knew who you were talking to you'd drop down to your Goddamn knees and beg for forgiveness," he chortled, sinful lips smiling cruelly at a possible challenge.

"He is myhuman. I fought others for him. I'm not above fighting you for him too," snarled out the silver-haired demon stubbornly. He was just as naked as the day he was born. (2) A mane of silver hair, caked in blood was the only covering he had as it fell a little below his round, firm ass. The hard planes of sinewy muscles quickly shifted and bunched together slightly as he readied himself to pull out a weapon from thin air.

"You know I hate your type? The naïve demons that are so wet behind the ears that they are actually willing to sacrifice their lives for their owners even if it means suicide for themselves. It's so fucking laughable how pathetic my race has become over the centuries. I am your senpai. Don't you dare snarl at your superior or I'll bite out your throat to help quench my thirst," the older demon said in a pleasant enough tone. Although there seemed to be power behind his words that gave the allusion that the beseeching wails of past victims were flowing through his speech.

"Kyuubi!" Minato cried out, quickly and reflexively smacking his partner across his chest with the back of his arm. He was unworried by the murderous look and flash of fangs that were flashed his way. Crystal blue eyes just narrowed in challenge forcing his demon to sigh in defeat and amusement as he looked the other way and worked his jaw in his agitation.

"What? What! I was being nice. I warned him, didn't I?" he quickly fired back with a winning, vulpine smile. "Besides…" he trailed off, eyes lingering longingly at his new, possible plaything. "I told you how I felt about upstart demons daring to challenge me. I've been itching for a fight and even if he's bound to this child I can already taste his blood on my tongue," he murmured huskily, licking his lips. If the child wasn't mistaken he could see an almost dreamy, glazed look come over the demon's eyes.

"Bound? Is that why this little one survived?" the blonde questioned curiously as blue met brown. They both pondered the information given, although one set of eyes was clueless to what was clearly going on. Iruka quickly tucked his head under the blonde's chin still flustered by his rescuer. His head hurt too much too think of such heavy matters so he comforted himself by listening to the steady, reassuring beat of the man's heart.

"Yes, yes but barely. I don't even think he's named yet. The link between the two is too unstable for him to be named," Kyuubi said in a suffering sigh of frustration, knowing what would come next.

"We won't fight you because despite my Guardian's eagerness to rip apart everything in his path, including puppies and rainbows, we really mean no harm. I just want to take your little master somewhere safe. I am sure you don't want him sleeping among the dead, do you?" Minato beseeched reasonably. His hands were already rubbing comforting circles into the chibi's back; bouncing him up once to keep the six year old's legs from slipping down from his narrow waist.

"I'm still hungry," whined out Kyuubi his mood suddenly souring more than usual. He hated when the blonde seem hell-bent on saving everything in his path, including things that the red head fancied on eating and/or destroying. But knowing that it would be an irksome thing if it wasn't quickly dealt with, he addressed the child. "Hey kid, you need to name him," he commanded instead of making it a suggestion.

"Iruka?" the miniature brunette said softly after a bit. He had reluctantly shifted his head to look at the red head from the safety of Minato's black t-shirt.

"Huh? Is that his new name kid?"asked the red head curiously. He then gave the other demon a measuring look wondering if he looked much like a 'dolphin'.

"No… no, my name is I… Iruka, n… not kid," he hiccupped. His bottom lip trembled as tears began to swim in his eyes again. He took only a moments comfort in the shooshing, cooing sounds that his human carrier made before the demon decided to speak again.

"Well Iruka, I'm pretty sure you don't understand this but that guy over there believes you are his master." He quickly waved away the silver haired demon's protests in irritation. Kyuubi knew that the demon knew that that was his human and that shouldn't be questioned one iota but the child didn't know that yet. "He is surprisingly in control of his senses and his instinct to kill, despite him being summoned so early. But that can change drastically. If you don't name him soon well… let's just say a dead mommy and daddy will be the least of your worries," he concluded for lack of better words. He shrugged away Minato's withering look of exasperation to look intently at the man-child.

"I… I…" Iruka stuttered out unsure of himself. He worried his bottom lip and looked at the silver haired demon once more. He was so scared and confused that his small body was wracked with shivers until he felt the blonde holding him tilting his chin up one-handedly. He looked dazedly back with wide brown eyes into the safe haven the azure pools offered him and found himself immediately calming down.

"I know this is all new and scary to you. It's a lot for you to take in, in such little time. But understand me; this is important Iruka-kun. I need you to name that demon. I know you are afraid of him just as you are afraid of my Guardian Kyuubi and possibly even me. But your demon will soon become an intricate part of your life. So give him a name that is worthy of him since he was the one who ultimately saved your life," suggested Minato in his soothing melodious voice. He offered the wide eyed child a small smile of encouragement even as he watched the brunette turn his head once again towards the intruder.

"Y… you saved me?" Iruka nearly choked out in wonder. He could vaguely remember a silver blob whispering to him that he would protect him while he blindly gazed at him through shimmering tears as he sat amidst his unmoving parents.

The silver haired demon nodded his head solemnly, unsure whether it was safe to do anything more.

"Ka…Kashi. I want you to be a Kakashi," he breathed in a shuddering breath. His hand fisted harder into Minato's shirt at his determined words before his breath nearly caught at the smile the bloodied demon gave him.

"As you wish my lord," Kakashi murmured as he pressed his hand over his heart and made a deep bow. And before Kyuubi could snort at such display of loyalty he blinked as he felt the bi-colored eye demon in front of them quickly moved at lightning speed pass them.

It was roughly at the same time the red-headed demon gracefully whirled around and cracked his clawed fingers eagerly at the new wave of prey that tried to pour into the small door in the front room all at once. It was obvious that their hunger for human souls, especially those of a Summoners' won over their fear of possible death.

"I guess that means I feed after all," Kyuubi nearly purred out in his approval. Then before he jumped into the thick of the fray he cast a sidelong glance at his master and the human boy. "Don't go doing anything stupid by trying to run off or join the madness," the red head warned cautiously.

"I wouldn't even dream of it," smiled Minato. The blonde had finally given his blessing on something and before Iruka allowed himself to shut the world out by closing his eyes and covering his ears, he could have sworn the red head winked at him before disappearing into the first room.

END FLASHBACK, NOW WITH KAKASHI

Soon after he departed from his young master, Kakashi had made his way back to the headmaster's office. He opened the door just enough to show the occupants left in the room that he had returned before slowly turning around and walking back out again. Words seemed an unnecessary kind of noise that would take away from this urgent moment and possibly lead to hurt feelings or bruised egos. So when he had given them a silent sign to follow, they did so with great haste. Keeping close to his heels the Uchiha party followed the silver haired demon silently downstairs to the monster that currently lived in the basement.

On other days Kakashi would have much rather preferred taking a surveillance tour of the school to make sure that everything was in its proper place before laying down with his master for the night. But since that wasn't an option he took a bit of solace in the fact that the school had enough sufficient funds to hire Summoners and their Guardians to watch over the few sleeping inhabitants of the school.

The party moved quickly and silently, with large, purposeful steps; a few fingertips trailed against the rough stone wall as they circled tightly down the spiral stairwell leading to the dungeons. There was room enough on the stairs to walk three abreast but they walked in single file anyway with Kakashi at the front and Kisame at the rear as if preparing for a possible attack. It was a dizzying trip that was marked by little alcoves in the wall that a person could hide in, in case they needed to ambush whatever escaped the basement. But nothing that drastic happened so Kakashi, for his part, had not expected anymore unnecessary surprises that night, especially not an Uchiha downstairs, already waiting for them.

"What are you doing Obito?" The silver haired blonde asked his question with a tired sigh before he even descended to the last step before him. The words had slipped out naturally and his bemusement was genuine as he paid witness to the curious sight before him. If it weren't for the presence of the people behind him he would have sounded more cheerful to see his old friend.

"Feeding him… What else does it look like," Obito murmured distractedly, almost pouting at such an obvious answer. He moved to scoop a bit more ramen onto the chopsticks before he offered it up to bruised and bloody lips. A coxing 'ah' sound forming on his own lips before he smiled brightly at the weary bite taken.

"Well I know that you are feeding him but whyis what I really want to know?" Kakashi pressed before reluctantly stepping down onto the basement floor.

He wanted to avoid the confrontation that might come from the other Uchihas noticing Obito but it couldn't be helped. The man he called friend was estranged from his family along with his identical twin brother Tobi because of what they represented. (3)

They were bastards, the both of them, born from the escapades of Fugaku's father Akihiko, who found escape from his loveless, arrange marriage in his childhood friend, ironically named Ai. Obito and Tobi were in all rights Itachi and Sasuke's uncles because they themselves were Fugaku's half brothers But since the family, including Fugaku, didn't acknowledge the twins as true Uchihas', the family didn't want Sasuke and Itachi to either. So when all he got from the four behind him was a wave of silence born of shock, all he could do was let out an inward sigh of relief.

"Because he looks hungry and if he really used to be Minato's demon than he should be fed. Minato would have wanted it that way," the Uchiha insisted, not even bothering to glance over his shoulder.

"Obito…" Kakashi began sternly before he was gently cut off.

"I've even cleaned up most of the blood he was caked in." Obito began then let out a disappointed sigh before continuing. "Kakashi… I don't care what he has done… If he killed Minato I really am sorry for you and Iruka. I really liked him too because he was the only one who really acknowledged me and my brother as something more than the black sheep of an illustrious family. But no one should have been left in the condition he was in. If he wasn't, you know… what he is… he'd have bled out from all those injuries." The Uchiha murmured the last part as if already reflecting on the condition he found the demon in.

He had even stopped feeding the blonde at this point to scowl down at the bowl of ramen he was holding because it had really been a shame. The demon in front of him was such a beautiful creature and for him to be sliced and beaten so badly was a waste. It was a miracle that Kyuubi was able to heal even with the shackles restraining most of his spiritual energy. If he hadn't he would have probably bled to death despite him being a powerful creature.

"He doesn't deserve your kindness or thoughtfulness though," Kakashi began gently, interrupting his friend's troubled thoughts.

"I am thoughtful, aren't I?" Obito questioned considerately before beaming up at the demon.

If anyone else would have said that Kakashi would have thought him or her conceded but on Obito it was endearing. Not to say the Uchiha didn't have his moments where he liked to pull practical jokes on people. He was a mischievous soul at heart but he still miraculously maintained a sense of innocence that resolutely clung to him despite all the hardships that he and Tobi faced.

Kakashi had to admit that Obito and even Tobi, by far, were one of the most interesting, weirdest humans that he had ever come across. They weren't dropped dead gorgeous in the striking way that defined his kin but there was something about them that belied their plain features and made them somehow more appealing. The twins' mouths were a bit too wide and their noses a bit too long but when they smiled it seemed as if their whole faces were lit from within and made others prone to smiling in return.

They had the same creamy white skin and jet black hair, as well as the famous grey, soul scorching eyes of their bloodlines. But were their families' eyes were prone to looks of boredom, glares of death and a sense of superiority and entitlement; the twins' eyes were filled with a merriment, mischievousness and zest for life at large which was surprisingly refreshing. Add to that, the fact that they had a boyish charm and charisma that seemed to attract people to them despite being rejected by their own family and it overall made for a pleasing picture.

So when youngest twin Obito, frowned in his disapproval at the demon's mistreatment Kakashi had to admit he felt a little bad. Not for Kyuubi, far from that, but for his friend rarely showed his displeasure and vulnerability unless he had been truly affected. He watched intently as Obito carefully tucked his disapproval back inside himself to force a pleasant smile on his face before carefully continuing to feed noodles to a murderous demon as if feeding to a little bird with a broken wing.

"Weren't you supposed to be here earlier for your nephew's Summoning Ceremony?" Kakashi couldn't help but question. He hated when one of the twins kept things bottled up and hoped to distract the Uchiha from his darkening mood with a valid distraction.

"Hmm? Oh… that…" Obito trailed off thoughtfully before setting the chopsticks down to scratch the back of his head sheepishly and finally turned around. "Well you see I was all dressed and ready but then this little old lady had broken her hip carrying her groceries. So my awesome GuardianGai had chivalrously agreed to carry her while I carried her groceries to her home," he finished with a 'nice guy pose'. (4)

Though Kakashi had a sinking suspicion that the Uchiha had felt that he would be unwelcome to such a pivotal event and had kept himself scarce until the end. But the others seemed not to mind the obvious lie like he did because the bi-colored eyed demon was sure they already knew the ugly truth. Uchihas were good at looking the other way, especially when there was evidence of their bad influences. It seemed clear, however, as he looked casually at the small group behind him that one was too distracted by the demon behind Obito to pay attention to the words spoken for their benefit.

Mikoto felt it, the burning garnet that zeroed in on her as soon as she entered the room or more specifically it glanced briefly at her before zeroing in on the precious cargo she carried. She shivered visibly wondering if it wasn't too late to turn around and go back up the stairs again but even as she thought that she couldn't help but to glance down at her son. Her precious Sasuke who's warm breath tickled her neck as he slept blissfully on for the moment.

Lips pressed gently against his temple as she yearned to see him open his eyes once more to show the familiar gray instead of the angry ochre that had greeted her earlier that day. She wished that she had listened to the unerring sense of fear that she had felt for her son earlier that day as she laid out the clothes for youngest son. Mikoto had simply brushed it off as nervous butterflies at her son being on the cusp of entering adulthood with this demon ceremony but now she knew it wasn't just that. 'I should have—' she thought before she heard someone calling her.

"Mikoto-onee-chan, how are you?" Obito chirped up brightly sensing the tension that seemed to thicken the room as she continued to stare at the demon before looking down at her offspring.

It seemed like for the first time her eyes managed to focus on someone other than the demon and her child since she arrived in the basement. The matronly woman had been so absorbed in spiraling down in a wave of despair that she didn't realize that her brother-in-law was in the same room with her. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a disembodied voice, clearly not hearing Kakashi ask the same question earlier.

"I work here now. Isn't that great?" he replied cheerfully though it was obvious to all he had not a damn thing to be cheerful about right now. It was a defense mechanism that he rigged up a long time ago and it seemed instinctive to rely on such defenses now to help squelch his apprehension while seeming reassuring.

"I… well of course it's…" Mikoto began in surprised wonder. She was happy for her brother-in-law, she liked him despite Fugaku's misgivings but she wished he'd choose a better time than this one to try small talk. It also seemed that the demon, who her son had summoned, agreed with her because he chose that exact moment to interrupt them both.

"Why did you come here woman? Did you come to taunt me or something of that ilk?" snarled out Naruto as he glared down at the petite female clinging to hishuman.

"No… no I…" Mikoto trailed off feebly. She instinctively pressed her chest against her son's chest, absorbing some of his warmth in hopes of calming down her suddenly frantic heart.

"Stop that. That's not the proper way to address a lady," tsked Obito in an admonishing tone. He looked aghast at what he just said because victim or not the blonde was still a dangerous demon to be shackled like that but it was once again reflexive. His hands couldn't help but tremble slightly at the first wave of fear crashed over him as the blonde decided to turn his honey gold orbs to look at him dismissively.

Naruto briefly glared at the human, baring fangs in warning but let it go to focus his eyes back on the female human.

'Sasuke, I knew you'd come back to me...' He thought, his eyes softening momentarily for the human pup before he once more glared at the bitch who sired him.

"Why did you bring him to me then?" he demanded, rather than asked. His temper was rather short after his last encounter with humans and he'd rather not waste his time with their little mind games.

"B… because he's my… my baby boy and I wa… want what's best for him," Mikoto began on a shaky breath. She trembled visibly even as her son Itachi came to wrap his arms around her shoulders. She closed her eyes and took in a slow, uneasy breath before opening her eyes again and lifted her chin up in determination. 'You can do this Mikoto,' she coaxed herself.

"And you think I'm best for him," Naruto assumed smoothly as if that was the only plausible answer. An actual smile was preparing itself to touch down on his lips at the realization that these humans in front of him may actually be intelligent.

"No… Honestly, no I don't think you a… are. But you are what he wants right now. When he does wake up yours is the only name he speaks before drifting off again," the Uchiha woman began slowly, carefully choosing her words. Her fine brows furrowed together at the thought of what drew her son desperately to the blonde like a magnet to metal or a moth to a flame. She found that despite the fact that she now knew why he was so attracted to his demon, she still thought her son too young to be feeling this way.

"Is that so?" Naruto murmured, please by that fact.

"Yes. It's true," Mikoto confirmed her brow still creased with her frown.

"You do realize that even if I wake him up, that this need for me won't simply go away because you want it to. That me waking him up might actually make things worse for you when he realizes what your people have done to keep me away from him," he began in a warning tone, sensing the woman's hesitation.

"I know… the headmaster Iruka told us but…" she hesitated and bit down on her bottom lip. Her arms were already reflexively drawing her baby boy closer to her chest, as if to better protect him; her eyes were filled once more with unshed tears. Mikoto was unable to let go of him despite the harm she knew she was causing him by separating the two from each other but she needed more time. She needed time to absorb all of this troubling information and come to terms with it in some way.

She needed more time to realize her son was growing up and didn't need her to baby him and cut the crust off the food. She knew it. She knew that she was being selfish now but as she pressed her wet face against her son's neck she knew she couldn't willingly give him up. She couldn't lose him to a being, who could care less whether he was breaking her heart right now. No, no... She couldn't, she couldn't, she couldn't.

'We'll find another way to save him,' she thought fervently, crying freely now against his neck.

Naruto saw the woman's breakdown and narrowed his orbs in amber slits of distaste as he realized his human's mother was too fearful for her son to pay attention to common sense. It wasn't as if she was really sacrificing her child since he wasn't going to hurt what was now rightfully his. It pissed him off so much; humans attachments to intangible and tangible objects when demons could barely afford such luxuries and selfishness.

His golden irises were quickly swallowed up by the band of red; lips curled back in a snarl, flashing lovely, sharp canines as he used his siphoned energy that he had been storing sense his capture to rip his arms free from his shackles. His mouth sagged open in a silent scream, face flushed and blood splattering across the walls. The ground greedily sucked the blood that he offered it as he drew his bloody, shredded limbs together. A sliver here and there of bone was seen before his body began to quickly knit together the shredded tendons and flesh of his raw arms.

It had happened so quickly that no one really had the time to react. One moment Naruto was glowering at the hesitant Uchiha woman and the next he was encircling one bloodied hand around Obito's neck, nearly choking him, daring him to run. It was a sheer feat of Herculean strength and speed on his part that rivaled the beauty and dexterity of a jaguar in movement.

Elegant, clawed fingertips, that weren't otherwise occupied, curled into the band of his iron collar and with barely a flick of his wrist it broke in half before he combed bloody digits up into his hairline. They fisted there, drawing up reddish blonde strands that would have otherwise flopped into his face and obscured his view of the frightened humans. He looked at them through hooded lids, just a hint of liquid scarlet piercing through the fan of lashes.

The fiend couldn't help but lick his lips, as if he could suddenly taste their fear permeating the stone walls. It danced across his senses like a skittish rabbit and pulsed rapidly against the hand wrapped around the man's throat. His hand nearly spasmed to feel his captor's heart skip double time but barely resisted as he forced himself to take in a deep calming breath. His dangerously intelligent mind tried hard to quell back his animalistic desire to take a big, juicy bite of his victim's neck. One corner of his lips twitched upward a bit, forming a crooked smile on those sinister lips.

"You humans are always surprising," he panted out, adrenaline thrumming through his veins. He closed his eyes to take another deep, calming breath before continuing. "See here I thought you wanted to take the easy way out by handing over my new master but instead you always strive for the path less traveled. I hope idiocy isn't inherited or I'll grow tired of little Sasuke very soon," he sighed out as if truly regretful.

"Now Kyuubi..." began Kakashi even as he slowly drew out his Chidori. It wasn't yet glowing with his spiritual energy yet but his fingertips fairly crackled with blue energy.

"Naruto," the blonde corrected smoothly as if not truly ruffled by the whole ordeal. The demon had quickly created clothes for himself from the same wispy substance that had formed his tails and the dome from earlier. The wispy black substance formed flowing ebony hakama pants, tabi socks, zori sandals, as well as arm guards. With his long blonde hair already tied up mostly and the way he held himself proudly, he looked like a rogue Japanese warrior readying himself for battle. All that seemed to be missing was a katana to dangle, sheathed against his hip.

"Sorry, Naruto," the silver haired demon ground out. Kakashi was too angered by the sudden attack to his friend to be particularly fazed by this new feature of Naruto's shadows. What he really needed to do was concentrate on was calming the blonde down so that he would release Obito. "Don't you think you are taking this a little too far," he reasoned as he began to move an inch closer.

"No… In fact I think I'm not taking it far enough," Naruto mused thoughtfully before lifting Obito up off the ground a bit. "I have been more than patient and yet all of you treated me so poorly. Shouldn't I try to seek some retribution?" he asked the frightened Uchiha that he was holding up. He nearly chuckled at the way the human male who fed him with those same hands tried desperately to claw his way to more air. But with a bit of a shake on his part the hands flopped down to his side in silent defeat. The scratch marks on the demons hands already healing with a hiss of smoke.

"Or…" trailed off Naruto thoughtfully.

"Or?" Kakashi asked suspiciously even as his crackling fingertips ran over his Chidori so that the blade now crackled too.

"Maybe I should have my little Master decide," he murmured with an impish grin.

It seemed that as soon as the demon had murmured those words the still child in his mother's arms stirred as if he could suddenly breathe again. Pouty, pink lips took one large, hungry gulp after another as he stared sightlessly at the ceiling. All but Obito watched this miraculous sight as his mother sobbed harder and tried to pull her child into a hug. But Sasuke's was already slowly turning his head toward his demon. His ears were deaf to his mother's cries of delight or anyone else trying to speak to him as he looked at the man that had haunted his dreams.

'Naruto…' mouthed the small Uchiha as if not quite believing that the blonde was real. He blinked slowly, owlishly, as if his mind was still trying desperately to kick itself fully into life. But when he realized that indeed his demon was real and alive he quickly let out a keening wail deep within his throat and chest. He was experiencing tunnel vision as he kicked and squirmed at the person that dared hold him back from what was rightfully his. He begged and pleaded until his distraught mother finally placed him down seeing her presence could not comfort her last born.

Naruto, as if on cue, dropped his human prisoner as if it was a wiggling puppy that had just piddled in his hand in order to accept the attack from the child that made to leap into his arms. His own strong limbs folded around the small boy, wrapping him in his possessive embrace so that even as his ass hit the floor from the force of their colliding bodies, they didn't separate from each other one iota. The shackles around his ankles dug a bit into his flesh from the fall but it was not to be rivaled by the small set of canines that sank into the flesh of his bare shoulder.

The blonde let out a dark, rumbling chuckle at the eagerness of his human pup to greet him and reprimand him at the same time for making the child worry so. It was a primal, almost animalistic form of greeting that wrenched a scandalized gasp from Sasuke's mother but only made the demon stroke the child's soft, dark locks in silent acceptance. Naruto then began to nuzzle the child's neck with his nose; a deep guttural, growling purr coming from deep within his chest as he took in his Sasuke's scent, the tiny pulse against his throat, even the way the man child shivered as if knowing he was there taking him in.

"I've missed you too pup." Naruto murmured this small confession throatily into the soft shell of his master's ear; his warm breath caressing the fleshy, pink lobe and the side of his neck with gentle puffs of air. His strong, capable fingers helped to adjust Sasuke's legs so that his little master was properly straddling his lean hips before he looped one capable arm around his small waist. There was no real fear that the child would draw away from him, quite the opposite, but the people he observed over the little Uchiha's shoulder proved troublesome.

'I'll shred them into bloody bits of confetti first…' He thought with a finality that was not to be wavered by the small body that pressed urgently against him for more warmth.

All this time Sasuke had not released his teeth from his Guardian'sskin even as he sought out comfort from him. His blunt nails dug into Naruto's biceps as if determined that no one would budge him from his perch; while he let out a muffled growl of frustration that bordered on a whimper against golden flesh for allowing the child to suffer so greatly for his expense. Tears clung to and saturated his long eyelashes as he shook with so much emotion swirling in his small chest that clawed hands were compelled to rub his back to comfort him. But it wasn't enough.

He felt like he'd explode into a million pieces if he didn't center and pour some of his fear, his relief, his anger and desperate need for him into that bite. He wanted Naruto to understand his pain and take in everything; be the vessel in which he could pour in all his problems and woes into before allowing the demon's sheer presence to purify and wash his cares away.

"It's time to let go," Naruto murmured softly as if he understood the sensitive matter. He hummed knowingly when his fingertips barely grazed the sensitive spot on the boy's neck. It flared into life, unfurling for its' true master to show its dark beauty without expanding to its full capacity like during the possession.

Sasuke heard the words but couldn't quite find himself obeying. Not when he felt those fingers grazing such a sensitive area. It was like all his attention, all his nerve endings were focused on the slightly, whimsical brush of clawed fingertips tracing the dark outline of the tomoe marks. It wasn't as thrilling as feeling teeth sink into that very spot but the feathery soft sensation released a fleet of butterflies in his belly and left him with a teasing promise for something far greater if he just fell. And Kami did he want to fall.

His teeth sank further in his growing frustration at the teasing without him even realizing it. Then the child blinked in surprise, coming out of his little haze induced by the fingers, at the first taste of warm, metallic blood on his dainty, little tongue. His lips were already about to pull away before he heard the words that made him stiffen in place.

"Let go or there will be definite consequences my little poppet," Naruto growled out. He curled those same caressing fingers back into his little owner's dark, ebony locks. His amusement at the punishment given to him was slowly waning as the child continued to bite him stubbornly as if wanting to make sure that his Guardiangot the message that he was mad at him. He didn't fully realize that the child had been momentarily distracted by his tracing the marking earlier but was quick to seek retribution for the breaking of skin.

Naruto nipped the child's ear hard enough that he would get the message without his teeth breaking the tender flesh. "I know that you've missed me but I won't allow this kind of disobedience in you so early in the game, okay poppet? They haven't accepted it yet but you belong to me. You hear me? Mine!" the fiend breathed out hotly against blushing flesh. His curled digits yanked back gently at the child's hair as soon as Sasuke let go with a gasp. His own teeth nipped at the exposed, creamy flesh of the child's Adam's apple only to hear a soft, apologetic whimper from his human.

He waited a few heartbeats for his own heart to calm down before he looked at the pretty, helpless sight his human pup made. "Yes, yes, I forgive you now," he murmured with a soft chuckle, slowly releasing his hair.

For the briefest moment Naruto stared into the scarlet red eyes that he had only glanced at briefly when admonishing the boy before they faded into the luminous gray of his Sasuke's eyes. "I… I… don't leave. I can't… can't… it hurts." The Uchiha began to babble out in stumbling, halting words as soon as he could gather his bearings. His eyes were downcast, unable to look at his demon even as he wrapped his thin arms loosely around the blonde's neck.

"Shh… shh… I know. I know it did poppet. I won't let them take you away from me again. I'll kill them first before they do," he promised in a softer tone that nearly belied his dark words.

Sasuke nodded numbly, believing and taking reinsurance in the demon's words before he tucked his dark head under the demon's chin. "W… was it a dream Naruto? Did they really hurt you? I… because I saw…" the small Uchiha began, unable to let this worrying issue go.

It was clear to the blonde demon that Sasuke had been too distraught and distracted to see the blood that covered the upper half of his body. So not wanting to hurt his human any more, his clever mind quickly contrived a lie.

"Of course your brother, mother and the guppy wouldn't allow such a thing to happen. To think that they would leave behind something that is so obviously yours, for the wolves of the government to nip at; it's downright scandalous, unforgivable even." Naruto murmured his reassurance loud enough so that the other nosy occupants in the room could hear him clearly this time around. His shadow tails, which had blossomed out from his backside as soon as he circled his arms around his master, were now writhing around the two. It was a sinisterly dark nimbus of 'S' curls that threatened to spear any intruders who dared to come any closer to them.

He couldn't afford to have his enemies try to snatch up his pup when he was so distracted in his greeting. So when he made sure that they stayed at bay, he bent slightly over while still holding Sasuke one-handedly. He then began to pop the shackles around his ankles like they were made of paper cuffs before standing up in one fluid movement. His black hakamas rippled around his legs like black ink as he stood. The holes in the sides that would have usually been covered by a pair of boxers or even a kimono top instead revealed tantalizing golden flesh that showed how little the demon really was wearing.

"Isn't that right Aniki? You would have never indirectly hurt our precious Sasuke-kun by hurting me, right?" Naruto asked lightly, his lips twisted up in a cruel smirk that only the others could see over the child's shoulder.

"Of course not," snarled out Itachi. His arms were occupied with holding his mother who had fainted dead away when the blonde had bit down on her child's ear. It was too much for the already distraught woman to take and it was really pissing him off; the idea of this demon becoming an intimate part of their family.

"Well there you go then," Naruto said with false joyfulness. "But seriously, I really do wonder how demons ended up being the puppets in this scenario." The blonde demon mused thoughtfully even as he tried to get the suddenly asleep Sasuke to loosen his grip from around his neck.

It must have been a really tiring and emotional experience for the ten-year-old chibi to lose and regain his Guardianin such a short time, even if the small Uchiha had been asleep for most of it. Besides it was probably way past his bedtime so he probably wasn't used to being up past ten. But when he tried to get the raven clad in navy blue penguin pajamas to loosen his grip around his neck just a smidge, he heard the small Uchiha stirring and whimpering in his protests.

Soon a disheveled, dark head lifted up so that his small master could look at him reproachfully with sleepy, watering eyes that seemed impossibly venerable right now. His mouth bit back a yawn even as he tightened his hands purposely around his neck as if silently daring his demon to try to escape him and Naruto couldn't help himself. He laughed in genuine delight at the formidable and ravishing master that he would one day have.

Suddenly any protests that Sasuke might have had in his sleepy head from Naruto trying to pull away was startled away by the richness and sheer depth of that laughter. It was soothing, warm and velvety with hints of a dark undertone that added a surprising charm to it. The sound wanted to wrap around him and include him in a joke only known to the two of them; instead of making him self-aware of how utterly dependent he had become of the blonde so shortly after meeting him. His fragile ego was already appeased and a bit inflated by the sound and with no fear of suddenly losing his Guardianagain he was settling his head back down on his demon's shoulder to sleep. Nose pressed against the pulse mark of Naruto's throat as a small smile lighted across his pouty lips.

Naruto found himself thinking that if all his other masters/mistresses had been this manageable and tempting than he wouldn't have been so bitter and filled with loathing for mankind at large. He wondered vaguely what the future would hold for the two them while simultaneously waiting for the small Uchiha to nod completely off. His virgin ears were too young and vulnerable to hear yet the way his mind truly worked and the way the conversation was soon about to turn.

"We are obviously more superior," he continued seamlessly. It was as if he hadn't just shared a precious moment with his very 'human' owner and was not holding him now as if he was something valuable to him. "We are stronger, smarter… Well some of us are." Naruto paused at this point to look at the newcomer that had been foolish enough to leave his master alone with him, thinking the chains would hold him.

"Welcome Gai-sensei, did you get my miso pork? I don't think I tried that one yet," he murmured brightly. The joviality of his voice did not reach his breathtaking features as his lips twisted into a sneer at the comical look of surprise and betrayal the green clad demon wore as he took in everything.

Several containers of packaged ramen from Ichiraku, that had been handled with care as the demon with the bowl-haircut had purposely made his way back to the school, were now scattered and leaking from the bags and onto the floor. It was so laughable how the buoyant demon's features could quickly fall into such sharp, serious lines as Kakashi slowly handed the unconscious Obito, that he had been holding, into the awaiting and trembling arms of one Maito Gai.

"Pathethic!" he snarled out in contempt at the man that bowed his head and sighed in relief after checking Obito's pulse. Naruto almost looked as if he was physically in pain at how the demon, clad from head toe in green from his emerald green turtleneck and olive green khaki pants, had literally dropped everything to attend to his master. "You have lived in your human shells so long that you have become softer than the underbelly of a newborn pup. To think I live in an age where demons actually care what happens to their enslavers that you become co-dependent and easily swayed by human emotions. It's damn near laughable," he hissed out. Then just as suddenly in a contradictory way he found himself lowering his tone so as not to disturb the young master sleeping peacefully and obliviously in his arms.

There was a deadening silence that followed those words as if the occupants in the room were expecting the would-be murderer to take himself up on his own offer and laugh at the sight before him. But when instead of that, they heard Gai speak, all paused to listen.

"I feel sorry for you... No, more than that I feel sorry for the master in your arms that now has to deal with you and your all consuming hatred. It will burn you just as badly as it will burn him." Gai said this impassionedly with slow, careful words before his jaw muscles spasmed as he clenched his teeth. It was clear that he had wanted to attack the demon for what he did to his master but Obito came first. For all he had suffered and for all he had selflessly given the demon who held him, the black sheep had to come first. His head remained bowed, his severe bangs nearly covering his eyes and thick brows so that his ardent heart would not abandon a comrade in need to attack an unworthy foe.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto growled out in a dangerously frigid voice. His arms nearly convulsed over the boy he held as he took direct offense at the care in which he gave his own master. He was literally starting to see red at the thought that the simpleton of a demon in front of him would dare to pity him and his when it was he that was the inferior being.

"You will never know the true joys of having a beloved comrade and ally to lean on," Gai pushed on passionately, embolden. "His springtime of youth is wasted on someone like—"

"Why serve humans at all then, when it's obvious that you hate them so much?" Kakashi quickly inserted himself into the equation to steer the hostile gaze that Kyuubi settled on Gai and his friend, away. Tense, he watched in a calculating way as the scarlet rimmed eyes shifted slowly towards him; a predator's ravenous gaze that quickly accessed yet another potential prey. The tails that had seemed to rattle like a rattlesnake before a strike soon, thankfully settled down, curling lazily into lax s-curls as the fiend contemplated his words.

"Well… it's because I've grown sick and tired of messily sampling inferior humans when I can go for the brass ring," Naruto said incredulously as if it was oh-so-very-obvious. Slender digits pressed reassuring circles into the human pup's back as he frowned thoughtfully as if trying to recollect. "I may not remember any of my masters or mistresses but I can't forget their taste on my tongue. It was so… so… rich and full-bodied, sweet and succulent… Better than any chocolate éclair or culinary confection that an experienced pastry chef could conjure up in his kitchen," he murmured dreamily, almost wistfully.

"Each time I taste one it makes me feel so… so alive…" Naruto settled on the word regretfully as if he already knew that very word was inadequate and paled in comparison to the sheer heaven he felt when devouring a savory soul. Just him thinking about it now, always thinking about it in the back of his mind, made him so… so… " So damn hungry," he nearly snarled the last words out as his nails dug reflexively into the back he was rubbing so tenderly. He shushed and brushed distracting kisses against Sasuke's demon mark to keep the child from waking and protesting at the ten pricking points of pain.

Thankfully the stupid navy blue, penguin fabric of the small Uchiha's pajama topped prevented him from breaking skin. He had completely lost himself in that feeling that made his darkened heart almost giddy and buoyant before coming to himself with a longing sigh. Then seeing the bemused looks of his lone, conscious, human listener he gave Itachi a wickedly crooked, little smile and licked his lips before continuing. "Well you're not a demon… you obviously wouldn't understand or appreciate my words. But you Ebisu… You may not be a demon but, I know you must have been seduced once or thrice by the sweet and alluring siren's call of a human's soul?" he questioned the being that stirred among the murky shadows deep within the dungeon's space behind him.

Naruto didn't bother turning around as a brunette man, clad in an expensive all black Italian suit except for a red tie and the smoky gray silk shirt, stepped from the loving embrace of the shadows to push slim glasses back up the bridge of his aristocratic nose with black, gloved fingers. All the demons but one stiffed as they looked at the man who had probably been listening to their conversation the whole entire time. They knew, just as easily as the reborn blonde knew, what the seemingly innocent being represented even before a slim, black scythe appeared in one hand and an ancient collar appeared in the other.

"Yes, but the difference between you and me, besides all the numerous, blaringly obvious reasons, is that I don't eat the souls that I'm supposed to be in care of," Ebisu said dryly as he came to stand beside the fiend. He looked as if he could be an European aristocratic servant when juxtaposed next to the half clad Japanese warrior. He was as neat and tidy as Naruto looked messy and wild with drying blood occasionally flaking off his golden flesh. His short, cropped hair was gelled and carefully combed back so not a strand was out of place, his thin lips seeming to form an ever present frown even as he lifted a lone, elegant brow at the thing Naruto was holding.

"H… how does he know who you are? He's been named? He shouldn't know anyone from his past life… so how?" Itachi stumbled out accusingly, confused by this latest development. His veins were still iced by the chilling speech of the his Otouto's demon when suddenly Kisame stepped in front of him and his mother, blocking his view from the elegant man. A waspish comment was readying itself on his lips when the cold, commanding look that Kisame threw behind his shoulder stilled him into silence as his demon conjured up his Samehada as if readying himself for battle.

"Isn't it obvious?" came the cool and intelligent voice. He seemed unperturbed by the loose ring of tense demons that were in front of him; more like took great pleasure in looking down his slender nose at the despicable cretins as he continued with much importance. "Where there is a demon there is death and where there is death there is unfortunately a shinigami like me who has to come down to earth and clean up the mess they leave behind," he said the last part with a long-suffering sigh. (5)

"So someone like me, who has coupled and worked so intimately with death can't just give up the ghost because I've been reborn again and again. Silly human, it's not your kind that police the things that go bump in the night," Naruto continued seamlessly, not glancing towards Ebisu once.

"That's why I take great pleasure in being hired by the Council to arrest you, Naruto, for the murder of the Kage no Ô Yondaime, Minato Arashi NamiKaze. The court meeting will be scheduled tonight, an hour from now but I'm taking you in now," Ebisu said in an authoritative voice.

Quickly thick handcuffs curled lovingly like bracelets around the fiend's wrist so that he had to loosen his grip on the child a bit so that the heavy metal would not bruise his delicate skin. The sides of slender thighs pressed firmly against his sides as the sleeping child compensated for the loss of space. A smile, unbidden curled bitterly across his lips even as he felt the familiar weight of a light, ancient collar of steel suddenly snapped around his neck without the death god moving.

Naruto knew the danger of trying to break out of the seemingly harmless collar. Sure it would have been easy enough to snap the surprisingly light material from around his neck just as he had broken the one that had been wrapped around his neck before. But this latest restraint wasn't lovingly named the Guillotinefor just any old reason. As soon as he began to break the stupid thing, specially built blades would snap from the mysterious confines of the collar to collide together and sever his head from his shoulder. Amber eyes didn't need to look to the side to know that Ebisu was now sporting a smug smile on his narrow face that dared him to do something stupid and rash like that so he would deal with one less trouble-making demon.

"It was never Iruka and I that you had to be worried about when freeing Naruto," Kakashi began to speak, turning to face the frightened Itachi will an indifferent gaze. "Everyone, including my Master wants a piece of him but the Council comes first. So how…" he trails off and looks at his former sempai with amusement "…does it feel to be wanted so badly by everyone Naruto?"

"I get all warm and tingly inside just at the thought," the blonde murmured sneeringly. Then before he could say anything else he, his master and the shinigami holding his leash disappeared in a flare of light to Itachi's utter horror.

" SSSAAAASSSSUUUKKKKEEEE!!"

To be Continued…

(1) – Since Naruto's hair is predominately blonde with red undertones it seems to me that when he wears his hair short like that when he is with Minato then the red undertones would dominate over his do.

(2) – Every time is summoned and reincarnated they are naked. So Kakashi being naked now hints to him being just recently summoned instead of being some crazy nudist.

(3) – Well I thought it cute to revive Obito since this is an AU and there was no enemy shinobi to help take him out in a rockslide. Also I really like Tobi to and since many, like me, believed that Tobi and Obito were the same thing instead of (spoiler) Madara Uchiha I thought it cute if they were identical twins.

(4) – Both Gai and Lee are famous for this pose and since I made Obito, Gai's Master he becomes the originator of the movie. =3

(5) – If you have ever seen Kuroshitsuji or read the book then you might see that I paid tribute to Will the Shinigami mentioned in the book/anime by having the always by the rules Ebisu mimic him in a lot of aspects aspects.

A/N: I really do hope you enjoy this because I nearly gave up several times and had Kei-chan and Laran coaxed me again and again to continue. I have, I thank them and of course this gift fic is for Ivvy Moon.


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